Celibacy Revelations Reincarnated Lamas Growth of Monasticism at Katok 17th 19th c

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© Copyright by Jann Michael Ronis All Rights Reserved May 2009

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Abstract This is a study of  Katok Monastery in the Degé region of  Kham in eastern Tibet. Katok Monastery was founded in 1159 and is one of  the most influential monasteries of the of  the Nyingma sect. The dissertation explores a crisis in the continuity of tradition of  tradition and administration at Katok as impelled by volatile changes in regional politics and religion during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. For the first several hundred years of  Katok's distinctive history, its it s primary self-identification was as a b astion of  Nyingma esoteric scriptural traditions translated into the Tibetan language during the imperial period called the Kama. Katok was also a celibate community  – at least in terms of  its it s ideals and reputation  – for its it s first several hundred years. The historical analysis of  this study begins with a profound transformation of it of  itss original administration and religious programs during the midseventeenth century rise of  the new Degé kingdom in Kham. This new polity injected itself  directly into the life of  the monastery by imposing on it a new head lama, Longsel Nyingpo (1625-1692). This lama was not a proponent of the of  the Kama but instead a discoverer of revealed of revealed scriptures (Terma). Moreover, he was a non-celibate lama whose successor was his biological son. The dissertation thus begins with a rupture with the past and traces the reverberations that rippled through the monastery as the changes introduced by this lama were variously challenged, altered, and codified. Broader developments within the Nyingma Sc hool and the Degé kingdom also impacted the cultural and administrative life of  the monastery, such that the vicissitudes of  Katok provide important glimpses into the religious history of  the region overall. By the early nineteenth century the monastery's administration and curricula had been thoroughly reformulated in such a way that both the Kama and the revelations of  Longsel Nyingpo were integrated into the core liturgical and scholastic programs at the monastery, and celibate monasticism was revived. Additionally, new institutional and educational practices originating outside the monastery  – especially the recognition of  reincarnated lamas, the revival of  monasticism, and the study of  the literary arts – arts  – were also firmly incorporated into the monastery.

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Table of Contents of  Contents

Acknowledgements...................................................................................................................v Introduction.............. Introduction ............................ ............................ ............................ ........................... ........................... ............................ ............................ ............................ ............................ .................. 1 The Nyingma School of Tibetan of  Tibetan Buddhism........................................................................................3 The Kama: Scriptures of the of  the Old Translation School and Their Commentaries Commentaries ............. ............. 5 The Treasures (Terma): Revelations of Lay of  Lay Visionaries ........................................................... 14 Chapter Summaries......................................................................................................................................25

Chapter One: A Treasure Revealer Arrives at Katok.......................... Katok........................................ ............................ ................ 33 The Rise of Degé...........................................................................................................................................34 of  Degé...........................................................................................................................................34

The Early History of Kham of  Kham ............................................................................................34 Degé Family history........................................................................................................38 Dündül Dorjé and the Nyingma Tradition in Mid Seventeenth-Century Kham...........43

Dündül Dorjé's Textual Treasures ............................................... ..................... ................................................... ................................... .......... 48 Dündül Dorjé Returns to Degé ................ ........................ ................ ................ ................ ................ ................ ................ ................ ...............50 .......50 Longsel Nyingpo and the Revival of Katok....................................................................................56 of  Katok....................................................................................56

Longsel Nyingpo's Early life and move to Degé ............... ....................... ................ ................ ................ ................ ............. .....56 56 Longsel Nyingpo's Kama-Inspired Cycle of Treasure of  Treasuress ................ ........................ ................ ................ ................ ............ 70 The Administration of Katok of  Katok by Longsel and His Descendants ....................................78 Conclusion.........................................................................................................................................................81

Chapter Two: A Mid Eighteenth-Century Attempt to Reform Katok Monastery ........................... ......................................... ............................ ............................ ............................ ........................... ........................... ............................ ............................ ............................ ........................... ............. 85 Katok Rindzin Tsewang Norbu..............................................................................................................86

Biographical Writings By and About Tsewang Norbu ..................................................86 Tsewang Norbu's Involvement with Nyingma Teachings and Institutions....................89 Tsewang Norbu's Involvement with the Karma Kagyü sect ..........................................95 Tsewang Norbu's Campaign to Reform Katok ............................................................................. 100

Criticisms of the of  the Current State of Katok of  Katok ......................................................................102

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Criticisms of Drimé of  Drimé Zhingkyong..................................................................................107

Katok in Disrepair.........................................................................................................113 The Zhamar Incident ................................................................................................................................. 119

The Right Man for the Job? ................................................ ...................... .................................................... .......................................... ................ 120 The Unsuccessful Enthronement of Zhamar of  Zhamar at Katok..................................................122 Conclusion ...................................................................................................................................................... 136

Chapter Three: Mid Eighteenth-Century Katok: The Supremacy of Trülkus of  Trülkus and Longsel's Treasures, and the Revival of Celibate of  Celibate Monasticism..................................138 Dzokchen Monastery: Reincarnated Lamas and Printing at the Degé Printing House .............................................................................................................................................................................. 139 Situ Penchen and His Monastic Revival in Eighteenth-Century Kham..........................146

Situ's Monastic Customaries.........................................................................................156 Getsé Mahāpaṇḍita's Early Years: Joining the Coterie of Trülkus of  Trülkus and Training in the Treasures ......................................................................................................................................................... 162

The Rise of Reincarnated of  Reincarnated Lamas at Katok ...................................................................163 Family and Recognition as a Trülku of Katok..............................................................166 of  Katok..............................................................166 The First Phase of Getsé's of  Getsé's Training and Career ...........................................................172 Conclusion ...................................................................................................................................................... 184

Chapter Four: The Revival of the of  the Kama and Codification of Longsel of  Longsel Nyingpo's Treaures at Katok............ Katok .......................... ............................ ............................ ............................ ............................ ............................ ........................... ........................... .................. 187 Getsé's Revival of Kama of  Kama Rituals and Tantric Exegesis............................................................ 188 Codification of Longsel's of  Longsel's Treasures ................................................................................................... 211

Establishing Getsé's Treasure Liturgies in the Liturgical Calendar ................ ........................ ............. .....218 218 Public performances of Longsel's of  Longsel's treasures .................................................................221 Katok Becomes a Regional Center of Learning of  Learning ......................................................................... 226

The Teachers Active at Katok at the Turn of the of  the Nineteenth Century.........................226 Trülkus from Other Monasteries Train at Katok....... Katok ............... ................ ................ ................ ................ ................ ........... ...230 230 Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................................244

Conclusion .......................... ........................................ ............................ ............................ ............................ ............................ ............................ ........................... ........................... ................ 246 Future directions........................... directions........................................................................................................................................ ............................................................................................................. 249

v Bibliography .......................................................................................................................................255 Tibetan Bibliography ............................................................................................................................... 255 Other Bibliography ................................................................................................................................... 259

Acknowledgements

At this mom ent of  completion, transition, and optimism I am grateful to numerous people and institutions. At the top of  the list is certainly my advisor, Professor David Germano. Almost ten years ago Sarah Jacoby and I visited Professor Germano's home one night for some matter related to class and while in his old basement office he showed us pictures from his recent trip to Kham. He encouraged us to consider choosing dissertation topics concerning Kham and (according to my memory) made special mention of  Katok Monastery. His photos of  this picturesque mountaintop monastery were striking and I distinctly remember him saying, "There is enough history and literature associated with this place for two or more dissertations." Sarah had already selected a topic for her doctoral research and thus politely nodded her head but was unmoved. I, on the other hand, was very intrigued and determined to visit Katok on my upcoming inaugural trip to Tibet. When I arrived at the University of  Virginia I did not know anything about Kham, the Nyingma tradition, or the several flourishing Nyingma monasteries in contemporary Kham, among which Katok is certainly to be counted. I thank David Germano for introducing me to this world and giving me the time and guidance to spend many

years explor ing it. I have grown tremendously as a person and scholar while in

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graduate school and I have him to thank more than anybody else. I am also extremely thankful to my other committee members. Nicolas Sihlé has been a model advisor to me. He was generous with his time, committed, and challenging right up until the end. I thank him for devoting so much time to me even though he was busy finishing his own monograph. Kurtis Schaeffer was also a reliable and insightful advisor. He was always around when I needed a quick suggestion and met with me many times for long discussions about the process of  dissertation writing and thorny translation problems. I also thank Clarke Hudson for agreeing to join the committee late in the game after my completion date was moved up several months and another committee member was out of the country. The other faculty members at the University of  Virginia who do Buddhist Studies have also been mentors to me. I'm sorry that I did not get a chance to study more with Professor Emeritus Jeffrey Hopkins but what he did teach me turned out to be exremely helpful during my fieldwork. In my second year of coursework I took Professor Hopkins' year -long-course on Tibetan Buddhist debate. It wasn't exactly my cup of tea but when I first arrived at Katok – on a cold and wet fall day in 2001 –  the only common language I shared with the monks was the scholastic Buddhist vocabulary expertly taught to me by Hopkins. Without this "basic" knowledge my most important conversation partners and teachers in Tibet would never have taken me seriously. Everybody knows that Paul Groner is both a productive and respected scholar and a decent and reasonable human being. I thank him for modeling this to

me and all his other students. Karen Lang and Dorothy Wong have also been

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important figures for me at UVa. All of my formal graduate training has taken place at Virginia but I have been blessed with many mentors across the globe. I don't know what I did to deserve this but the following scholars have been truly hel pful over the years. I cherish their moral support and other forms of  generosity: José Cabezón, Bryan Cuevas, Jake Dalton, Georges Dreyfus, Janet Gyatso, Rebecca Manring, Anne Monius, Ramon Prats, Karma Lekshe Tsomo, Gray Tuttle, Leonard van der Kuijp, Alan Wallace, Vesna Wallace, and Christian Wedemeyer. E. Gene Smith has gratefully included me within his maṇḍ ala of Tibetan books and the knowledge they contain. I thank him for all his support over the years. I also want to acknowledge the entire team at the Tibetan Buddhist Resource Center and Shelley and Donald Rubin Foundation for an enlightening year in New York from 2006-2007. I must keep these acknowledgements short so I can only offer a list of  the names of  all my friends and colleagues who have contributed to my education: Ben Bogin, Karl Debreczeny Quentin Devers, David DiValerio, David Drewes, Douglas Duckworth, Kristina Dy-Liacco, Jocelyn Ford, Alex Gardner, Frances Garrett, Holly Gayley, James Gentry, Tina Harris, Lauren Hartley, Sarah Jacoby, Ryan Bongseok Joo, Dan Kent, Travis McCauley, Joe McClellan, David Newman, Elena Pakhutova, Tenzin Parsons, Annabella Pitkin, Trent Pomplun, Andy Quintman, Losang Rabgye, Tashi Rabgye, Beth Rohlman, Zach Rowinski, Michael Sheehy, Brenton Sullivan, Antonio Terrone, Yudru Tsomu, Carl Yamamoto, Eveline Yang, and so many others.

Several agencies, foundations, and funds have given me financial support

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over the years. For this I thank the Dean Huskey and Weedon funds at UVa, the Foreign Language and Area Studies fellowship program, the Institute of International Education and the Fulbright Program, and the Shelley and Donald Rubin Foundation. Without the help of my lamas, teachers, and friends in Tibet this study would never have gotten off  the ground. First and foremost I must thank and honor the abbot of  Katok Monastery Khenpo Sönam Tenpa of  Nyakrong. Khenpo taught, housed, and fed me at Katok for five summers. My relationship with him is one of  the lights of  my life and I can never repay his great kindness. I must also acknowledge the critical help received from of  Ja Tsering Gyatso, Karma Delek, Khenpo Dorjé, Khenpo Kalden Tsering, and Thupten Püntsok. Lastly and especially, I thank my loving family. I could describe them with many more adjectives in order to specify all the ways that they benefit me but  just saying that they love me in the true sense of  the word cap tures it  just as well.

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Introduction

This study explores a crisis in the continuity of tradition and administration at a Tibetan monastery as impelled by volatile changes in regional politics and religion during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The institution at the heart of  this dissertation is Katok Monastery ( kaH thog dgon), founded in 1159 in eastern Tibet (Kham; khams). Katok is one of  the oldest continuously running monasteries in Tibetan history, an influential center of  the Nyingma School, and one of  the most important Buddhist institutions in Kham. For the first several hundred years of  Katok's distinctive history, its primary self -identification was as a bastion of  Nyingma ( rnying ma) esoteric scriptural traditions translated into the T ibetan language during the imperial period called the Kama (bka' ma), literally “transmitted precepts”. Katok was also a celibate community  – at least in terms of  its ideals and reputation  – for its first several hundred years. This study does not, however, dwell on the early history of  the monastery. 1 Rather the historical analysis herein begins with a profound transformation of its original administration and religious programs during the mid -seventeenth century rise of  the new Degé ( sde dge) kingdom in

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Cf. Eimer, Helmut, “Daten Von Frühen Äbten Und Lehrern Des Klosters Ka ḥ Thog in Derge (Khams);” and Eimer, Helmut and Pema Tsering, “Äbte Und Lehrer Von Ka ḥ Thog; Eine Erste Übersicht Zur  Geschichte Eines Rñi ṅ Ma Pa-Klosters in Derge/Khams.” and “A List of Abbots of Ka ḥ-Thog Monastery According to Handwritten Notes By the Late Katok Ontul."

Kham. This new polity injected itself  directly into the life of  the monastery by

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imposing on it a new head lama, Longsel Nyingpo ( klong gsal snying po; 1625 1692). This lama was not a proponent of  the Kama but instead a "discoverer" of  revealed scriptures (Terma; gter ma). Moreover, he was a non-celibate lama whose successor was his biological son. The dissertation thus begins with a rupture with the past and traces the reverberations that rippled through the monastery as the changes introduced by this lama were variously challenged, altered, and codified. Broader developments within the Nyingma School and the Degé kingdom also impacted the cultural and administrative life of  the monastery, such that the vicissitudes of  Katok provide important glimpses into the religious history of  the region overall. By the early nineteenth century the monastery's administration and curricula had been thoroughly reformulated in such a way that both the Kama and the revelations of  Longsel Nyingpo were integrated into the core liturgical and scholastic programs at the monastery, and celibate monasticism was revived. Additionally, new institutional and educational practices originating outside the monastery  – especially the recognition of reincarnated lamas, the revival of monasticism, and the study of the literary arts  –  were also firmly incorporated into the monastery. The study of  Katok’s historical transformation during turbulent religious and political times in Tibet makes important contributions to a number of  central scholarly issues. These include 1) the historical process of  growth and decline of  individual monastic institutions, 2) the development of Buddhist scholasticism, 3) the

institutionalization of  cults of  revealed scriptures, 4) the rise of  reincarnate lamas,

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and 5) the religious history of  eastern Tibet. Furthermore, these issues are analyzed in terms of  their interrelations, such as the manner in which the growth of  monasticism both conflicts with and complements the rise of reincarnate lamas, or in how the cults of  revealed scriptures at first displace but eventually come to co-exist with the Kama and scholasticism. This dissertation utilizes numerous previously unstudied texts to chronicle and analyze the processes set in motion by the initial crisis as they unfolded over a two hundred period. The Nyingma School of Tibetan Buddhism

The Nyingma School  – meaning Old School or The Ancients  – is one of  the most diverse and widespread sectarian traditions in the Tibetan world. Under the umbrella of  the Nyingma Schoo l, one finds religious communities that are non celibate on principle, strictly celibate monasteries, mixed communities in religious “encampments” ( sgar ) or sacred pilgrimage sites, modest village temples, scholastic centers whose lamas have written classics of  Tibetan literature, and a spectrum of  religious specialists ranging from barefoot priest to lay visionaries to refined establishment lamas. The internal diversity of  the Nyima is not predicated upon a harmonious systematization, but rather is the production of a dynamic and constantly changing balance of  religious modalities in perpetual tension with each other. This dissertation contributes to our understanding of  the relations between various elements of  the school through presenting a dramatic confrontation between central

strands of Nyingma intellectual and institutional life during a pivotal period in East

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Tibetan history. The monastic and scholastic sides of  the Nyingma School are less well covered in the secondary scholarship than the lay and village-level elements of  the school. Up until very recently, it was commonplace for scholars to portray the Nyingma School as far less internally diverse than it is and describe it as expemplifying one "pole" of the spectrum of religious types in Tibet - non-monastic, mystical, unreformed, apolitical, and so on. This view is quickly diminishing away as more historically oriented scholars have begun to appreciate the genius of  Nyingma philosophical and tantric traditions and the vitality of their contemporary academies.2 The recent work of  Dreyfus on Tibetan monastic education, in particular, has surveyed new territory in Nyingma studies. Thanks to this and the work of  other scholars such as Duckworth, Jackson, Kapstein, Pettit, and Smith, we now have a good understanding of  the turn of  the twentieth -century history of  Nyingma "commentarial schools" ( bshad grwa), the theses of  Mipam Gyatso ( mi pham rgya

mtsho; 1846 -1912), and the related innovations fostered by the nonsectarian movement (ris med ). This study will further nuance the emerging picture of Nyingma by providing the historical grounding required to satisfactorily explain the institutional factors that allowed for the rise of  the nonsectarian movement and the efflorescence of  Nyingma scholarship at the turn of  the twentieth century. Some of 

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See Gemano, "Re-membering the Dismembered Body of Tibet," for an article about the most important  Nyingma academy in all of contemporary Tibet.

the scholars mentioned above do not give sufficient consideration to the historical

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chains of  events and influential social factors that helped make possible the institutions and practices they analyze. One of  the va lues of  this study is its articulation of  a historical missing link that explains how the institutional groundwork upon which the nonsectarian movement was based – i.e., large Nyingma monasteries in Kham with vigorous scholastic training  – came into being from the seventeenth through early twentieth centuries. This study is also a structural missing link that shows how the transmitted Kama and revealed Terma traditions of  literature, practice, and thought interact when both are present at the same monastery. This work therefore builds upon the excellent dissertations by Dalton and Jacoby, each of who investigate the social and literary histories of either the Kama or Terma, but in relative isolation from the other. The Kama: Scriptures of the Old Translation School and Their Commentaries

The beginning of  Chapter One presents the history of  the region in Kham in which Katok is situated. Thus here in the introduction it will be helpful to explain the Kama and Terma religious traditions in the Nyingma school, and how their dynamic interplay played out at Katok in the centuries preceding the time period covered in this study. The Kama ( bka' ma) is the lesser known of  the two in Buddhist studies. The ka (bka') of Kama is an honorific term meaning exalted statement, teaching, or scripture. In interpersonal and institutional settings, ka signifies an authoritative

order made by a superior. In terms of  religious literature ka is a translation of  the

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Sanskrit vacana and means Word, as in buddhavacana, the Word of the Buddha. For instance the canon of  Buddhist sūtras and tantras in Tibet is called the "Ka-gyur" (bka' 'gyur ), the translations (gyur) of  the Buddha's ka. Kama is a compound of  ka and the syllable ma, the latter being a generic suffix syllable indicating the feminine gender without further semantic import. For instance, books and traditions are occasionally given a feminine suffix syllable without any specific implication. The scriptures referred to by the uniquely Nyingma name of  Kama are those that (purportedly) were translated during the imperial period (seventh to mid -ninth centuries) and whose lines of  oral transmission were maintained from then into the medieval period; the term Kama can also signify the ritual and commentarial traditions associated with these particular scriptures. Ronald Davidson translates Kama simply as Holy Word; 3 Dorjé and Kapstein translate Kama as Transmitted Precepts; and Dalton translates it as Spoken Teachings. 4 In this dissertation Kama is left untranslated and refers primaril y to the liturgical and exegetical traditions of  these continuously transmitted scriptures held to be canonical by the Nyingma School. What is the history of the use of this term in the Nyingma School? What are the scriptures to which the Kama pertains? D avidson offers the most succinct 3 4

Davidson, Tibetan Renaissance, 73.

Dudjom Rinpoche,  History of the Nyingma School of Tibetan Buddhism (tr. Dorje and Kapstein) and Dalton, “The Uses of the  Dgongs Pa 'Dus Pa'i Mdo in the Development of the Rnying-Ma School of  Tibetan Buddhism.”

discussion of the early Kama as the foundational scriptures of the Nyingma School.

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He writes,5 By the eleventh century, the systems of  Buddhism surviving from the dynasty were termed Nyingma, a designation represented in t ension with the Sarma tantric and philosophical systems introduced beginning in the late tenth century. Those practices and texts ostensibly handed down in a continuous lineage from the period of the early translations were named Kahma, the Holy Word…." As such the Kama is conservative, bound to a relatively fixed canon. The sectarian traditions that originated during the period of  the later translation period (post-tenth century)  – the "Sarma" ( gsar ma)  – did not accept the authenticity of  many of  the tantras that the Nyingma claim were translated by their forefathers during the imperial period. The Sarma schools asserted that many of  the tantras that the Nyingma held as canonical lacked Indian source texts and were therefore inauthentic in one way or another. As the first compilers of  the Buddhist canon in Tibet did not accept the validity of many of the Nyingma tantras, they were excluded from many of the "Ka-gyur" (Kangyur ) collections of Buddha-voiced texts, such that these tantras were instead collected in an offshoot canon called the

Collected Tantras of the Nyingmapa (rnying ma'i rgyud 'bum).6 The Nyingma 5 6

Davidson, Tibetan Renaissance, 73.

In this dissertation the translation of Tibetan text titles will follow the translations developed by Gyurme Dorje and Matthew Kapstein in Dudjom Rinpoche, The Nyingma School of Tibetan Buddhism . See especially the "works cited by the author," vol. 2, 199-296.

organize their tantras according to a doxographical system that differs from the

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Sarma doxography, and which has partial correspondences with Bönpo doxography. The Nyingmas and Bönpos developed a system of  "vehicles" ( theg pa; yāna), or major categories of  teachings and their associated religious goals, that is comprised of nine vehicles, as opposed to the three vehicles of the standard Sarma doxography.7 For the Nyingma, the first three vehicles are known as the causal vehicles of  dialectics ( rgyu mtshan nyid theg pa ) and pertain to the exoteric systems. The latter six vehicles are known as the resultant vehicles of secret mantra ( gsang sngags 'bras

bu theg pa) and the first three concern the outer tantras and the last three the inner tantras. In order from lowest to highest, the inner tantras are known as the vehicles of  Mahāyoga, Anuyoga, and Atiyoga. The Kama, then, are essentially the core scriptures belonging to the three inner tantras, and the commentarial, liturgical, and contemplative writings on them composed by Indian and Tibetan masters. The community originally most identified with developing and propagating the Kama was the Zur ( zur ) family. The Zur family was not originally aristocracy from Central Tibet, but instead hailed from eastern Tibet (Kham; khams). In the tenth century Zurpoché Shakya Jungné ( zur po che shakya 'byung gnas) traveled from his homeland of  Kham to central Tibet and, after studying many Nyingma tantras, established a temple named Ukpalung ( 'ug pa lung) in Tsang ( gtsang).8 Zurpoche 7

For the best historical considerations of the formation of the nine vehicles system see Kapstein, Tibetan  Assimilation of Buddhism, 13-17. Dudjom,  Nyingma School of Tibetan Buddhism , Book One, contains an expertly translated presentation of the nine vehicles. 8

Dudjom, The Nyingma School of Tibetan Buddhism , 617. Ukpalung is close to Shigatsé ( gshis ka rtse),  Ngor (ngor ), and Narthang ( snar thang ).

9 was succeeded for two generations by relatives; Zurchung Sherapdrak ( zur chung

shes rab grags) and Zur Shakya Sengé ( zur shakya seng ge), respectively. The masters of  the Zur clan inherited many liturgies, meditation manuals, and scholastic commentaries on the Nyingma tantras that were either composed in India or by earlier Tibetans. They also contributed their own writings to this corpus of  texts, initiating a tradition of great longevity, diversity, and appeal.9 The Zur family especially favored three Nyingma tantras, which they viewed as emblematic of  the three vehicles of  the inner yogas: the Secret Nucleus Tantra (guhyagarbha tantra; rgyud gsang ba snying po) belonging to the Mahāyoga, the

S ūtra That Gathers All Intentions (dgongs pa 'dus pa'i mdo belonging to the Anuyoga), and the  All-Accomplishing King (kun byed rgyal po) belonging to the Atiyoga.The first two tantras were each the primary subject of dozens of volumes of  liturgical and scholastic writing, while the third was a central topic of  many scholastic commentaries and contemplation-oriented writings. In this regards, it will be helpful to excerpt Dalton's summation of  the Zur role in the Kama and the key components of the Kama in the narrower definition of the rubric,10 Under the stewardship of  the Zurs, these three tantras  – the S ūtra, the

Guhyagarbha and the Kun byed rgyal po  – were gathered together as a triad that became known as the mdo-rgyud-sems-gsum ('sūtra -tantramind triad'). The Zurs established these three works as the root tantras 9

For more on the lamas of the Zur family and the informal lineage of later lamas who followed their  commentarial and liturgical traditions, see Garson,  Penetrating the Secret Essence Tantra , 209-239. 10

Dalton, "The Uses of the Dgongs pa 'dus pa'i mdo in the Development of the Rnying-ma School," 102.

of anuyoga, mahāyoga, and atiyoga respe ctively…. The Zurs also

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referred to the early tantras collectively as the "Spoken Teachings" (bka' ma), which they juxtaposed to the newly revealed teachings (gter 

ma). The Spoken Teachings were so closely linked to the Zur clan at this time that they even became known as the "Zur spoken class" (bka'

sde zur pa). The notion of the “Kama” thus had both a broad meaning as a rubric applied to many texts and compliations, as well as signifying this narrower conception. Either way, it is not at all clear to what extent a distinct set of  texts circulated as a whole under this rubric. However, in the early years of  this century, an expanded edition of  one hundred and twenty core tantric texts was published under the rubric of the Kama. 11 The Kama and the "Trio of  the S ūtra,  Illusion, and  Mind " ( mdo sgyu

sems gsum) are synonymous in the Katok literature relied upon for this study. The three classes of yoga, or vehicles, of the Kama and their respective chief tantras have been the canonical sources for much scholastic, li turgical, and contemplative writings by Indian and Tibetan authors. In his dissertation on Anuyoga and the S ūtra

That Gathers All Intentions, Dalton details the ways Nyingma authors have used this tantra as a basis for organizing the multiplicity of  doxogr aphic systems that developed and as a basis for large -scale rituals.

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Space prevents us from

summarizing his extensive findings here. It should suffice to say that the founder of  11

This was edition was edited by the late abbot of Katok Jamyang Gyeltsen

12

Ibid.

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Katok wrote numerous commentaries on the S ūtra. Furthermore later Katok

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lamas were major figures in the evolution of the liturgical traditions of the S ūtra. Early in its history the S ūtra that Gathers All Intentions served the Nyingma School as a vehicle for systematic thought and scholastic study, including at Katok. Nevertheless, the primary and abiding tantric venue for scholastic reflection and monastic education has been the Secret Nucleus, the Mahāyoga tantra. For instance, the most recent edition of the Nyingma Kama as a literary compilation contains over sixteen volumes dev oted to commentaries on the Secret Nucleus and another ten volumes of  commentaries devoted to other tantras of  the same Mayā jāla class. 14 In this dissertation, it will be shown that when scholastic study of the Kama was revived at Katok in the late eighteen th century, the sources show it to have been almost entirely focused on the Secret Nucleus. Cantwell and Mayer confirm that this is still the case, claiming "among the many NGB [ Collected Tantras of the Nyingmapa ] texts, only the Guhyagarbha tantra nowaday s survives as a specific text for classroom study, with its own living commentarial tradition."15 The Atiyoga vehicle is concerned with the meditation system known as Dzokchen (rdzogs chen) or the Great Perfection. Its root tantra the All-Accomplishing

King is invoked on occasion in the primary materials cited in this dissertation, but 13

Ibid., Chapter Two.

14

The commentaries on the Secret  Nucleus tantra span volumes 63 through 79 and include at least 35 individual titles. The Secret  Nucleus is one of many tantras in the  Mayā jāla class. Other  Mayā jāla tantras have also inspired volumes of commentaries by Indian and Tibetan authors. These are also collected in the Greatly Expanded Kama and found in volumes 80 through 89. There are 6 volumes of  Mayā jāla liturgies as well (vols. 13-18). 15

Cantwell and Mayer, The K  ī laya Nirvāṇa Tantra and the Vajra Wrath Tantra, 2.

during the historical period covered the main Dzokchen teachings at Katok were

12

not based directly on this tantra. The founder of Katok Monastery, Dampa Deshek ( dam pa bde gshegs, 11221192), studied the Kama under Zur lamas.16 Dampa Deshek's primary Nyingma lama was Dzamtön Drogön ( 'dzam ston 'gro mgon), a student of Zur Shakya Senge. Over a nearly ten-year period spanning the 1140s and early 50s Dampa studied the Kama with Dzamtön Drogön and a few other Nyingma lamas. After completing his training and receiving a prophetic order to establish a monastery on the site of  a geographic formation resembling the letter Ka, Dampa established the Zur lines of  explanation and practice at his monastery in eastern Tibet. At Katok, the Kama came to be strongly associated with the two institutional trends of  monasticism and scholastic study. This is not to say that the Kama necessitates monasticism or formal scholastic study, only that at Katok the three went together as the core components of  its ideal or self-image. As for monasticism, at Katok the conservatism of  a commentarial and liturgical tradition constrained by a relatively closed canon of  source texts is matched by adherence to the conservative moral code of  the monk's Discipline ( vinaya). Dampa Deshek was a fully ordained monk and Katok was one of the first centers of celibate monasticism in the Nyingma School and in eastern Tibet. Dampa set the model for life at Katok in which study

16

This paragraph is based on the earliest biography of Dampa Deshek, authored by his student Bhik śu Dingpopa (dge slong lding po pa),  Biography of Dampa Deshek  (shar kaH thog pa dam pa bde gshegs pa’i rnam thar bdus pa grub mchog rjes dran).

and practice of  the Kama occurred within a context regulated by the monk's

13

discipline of celibacy and monastic decorum. The second institutional feature associated with the Katok tradition of  the Kama is scholastic study. Scholastic study here means the teaching of  highly technical commentarial literature in an academic environment. At early Katok, the Nyingma tantras and other topics were taught twice yearly during seasonal periods of  study and practice. The summer sessions were called "commentarial schools" ( bshad 

grwa) and the winter sessions were called "practice schools" ( sgrub grwa).17 As with the connections between the Kama and monasticism, to uphold the Kama tradition does not necessitate studying its commentarial corpus in such a formal institutional setting. A community could instead maintain the Kama in a purely ritualistic way. Nevertheless, for the Katok founder Dampa Deshek, the Kama was an academic tradition as much as it was a tradition of  practice and ritual. During the later period covered in this dissertation, the Kama is always spoken of in terms of both the rituals and their formal study, which includes philosophical exegesis. In summary, the Kama at Katok refers to the study and ritual practice of  the three inner tantras in an institutional setting where monastic purity and scholasticism were core elements of the monastery's identity and self-representation. Proof that this constellation of  elements was chief  to Katok's image long after its founding is the following quote about the monas tery in the sixteenth century classic of  Tibetan

17

See Gelong Dingpopa,  Biography of Dampa Deshek , 17b.4-18a.4, for an account of the locations, schedules, and courses of study at these two schools.

14 history, Scholar's Feast of Doctrinal History (chos 'byung mkhas pa'i dga' ston), composed by a Kagyü lama four centuries after Katok was founded. The profile of  Katok appears at the end of  the section on th e Kama and is the only Nyingma monastery profiled in that section. The final statement on the monastery reads,18 As for (the tradition of) these Katok (lamas), because they primarily practiced the morality of  the Vinayavastu, the monastery was kept clean a nd pure; because they propagated the conduct class (of  scriptures), such as the  Bodhicāryavat āra, they rectified (the study of) texts about the Mahāyāna path; and they propagated all of  the (teachings of) mantra and dialectics and in particular the main teaching of the Triad of S ūtra, Illusion, and Mind abide here (at Katok). Dampa Deshek would have been happy to know that even at this late date Katok Monastery was still thought of  in some circles as equally devoted to the Vinaya and the Kama Triad of S ūtra, Illusion, and Mind . The Treasures (Terma): Revelations of Lay Visionaries

Kama is contrasted and complimented by Terma, or Treasures. Treasures are materials  – text, image, or artifact  – that are made present to the world through processes of  purported excavation or revelation by visionaries. Revealed teachings 18

Pawo Tsuklak Trengwa, Scholar's Feast, (630.7): ka thog pa 'di rnams ni gzhi 'dul ba'i tshul khrims gtso  bor mdzad pas dgon pa gtsang zhing dag/ spyod 'jug sogs spyod phyogs dar bas theg chen gyi lam gyi gzhung bsrongs/ sngags mtshan nyid mtha' dag dar zhing khyad par mdo sgyu sems gsum gyi bstan pa dngos gzhi 'dir gnas pa yin no/ spyir zur che chung las 'phros pa'i sngags pas bod khams gang zhing bshad nyan shin tu dar bas sngon bod tu mdo sgyu sems gsum las dar ba'i chos ma byung ba snyam ste.

and objects are found to varying degrees in all sects of Tibetan Buddhism but are

15

associated primarily with the Nyingma and Bön schools. As such, Treasures have played an important role in the hist ory of  Katok Monastery. This section will introduce aspects of  the Treasure tradition that are pertinent to the period of  Katok history covered by this dissertation. The best evidence at present dates the treasure tradition to the early eleventh century for the Bön tradition and the later eleventh century for the Buddhists. 19 By the eleventh century, Tibetan society had regained some of the economic vitality and evolving stability that was lost during the so-called dark ages ( sangs rgyas bstan pa

dar nub) of the ninth and tenth centuries following the collapse of the imperial period and thus institutional religious activity was on the increase. Nevertheless, the Yarlung Dynasty was not restored and during this time there was no political centralization in Tibet. Instead, the political landscape was dotted with many small estates, including many with ties to the fallen dynasty. Tibetans at this time had a strong nostalgia for the "better days" of  the dynasty, the ruined splendor of  which surrounded them in the form of temples, tombs, and other architectural remains. During the rapid decline of  the dynasty in the middle of  the ninth century, objects of  great material value or spiritual potency were hidden for safekeeping. During the subsequent century of  greatly decreased importation of  Buddhism (the dark age) and through the early Tibetan Renaissance, these remnants of  Tibet's

19

Davidson, Tibetan Renaissance, 225. This chronology is not meant to imply Buddhist derivation from an originally Bön cult of Treasures.

former age of  glory were often unearthed. Davidson links the treasure cult with

16

such discoveries of  materials from the Yarlung dynasty. He writes, "There can be little doubt that the phenomenon of  treasure texts (Terma) is closely connected with material remains of  the Tibetan imperium, the artifacts and hoards of  precious materials that flowed into imperial sites as tribute and booty during the two centuries of adventurism and that remained after its fall." 20 Dan Martin also explains the Treasure tradition to be at root about the "revelation" of  ancient and hallowed objects. "The gter-ma phenomenon is most generally a cult of  relics combined with the romance of  discovery. (It should be noted that this opening statement says nothing about writings or books.) It has, by its own account, roots in Buddhism, both

sūtra and tantra, but it is a religious tradition with an especially strong stake in archeological revelation."21 Included among the finds were translations of esoteric Buddhist texts, some of  whose circulation among the populace was forbidden by the kings. Nyingma masters of the eleventh century and later also utilized this trope of rediscovered tantric texts and other religious objects from the ruins of the Tibetan empire as a vehicle for "selfauthentication" and "the appropriation of  new Indic material and the means for the development of  a vision of  indigenous Tibetan religiosity." 22 From the eleventh century onwards, many "Treasure discoverers" (Tertön; gter ston) produced a variety 20

Ibid., 213.

21

Martin, Unearthing Bön Treasures, 19.

22

Davidson, Tibetan Renaissance, 216.

of materials that they claimed were excavated from the earth, buildings, or their

17

own mind streams. The earliest known taxonomy of  treasures identifies two broad types of treasures, wealth treasures and Dharma treasures.23 The former type includes  jewelry, vases, foreign objects, and the like, while the latter includes texts. This dissertation, is primarily concerned with textual Dharma treasures and the institutional characteristics of the types of communities devoted to a treasure revealer and his or her revelations, especially as they relate to Katok Monastery. The types of  literature found in treasure collections cover a range of  genres that is fairly standar d. Gyatso divides the content of  treasure cycles into "(1) the 'historical,' which in the Buddhist case concerns the introduction of  Buddhism to Tibet during the Yar lung dynasty, and (2) religious doctrine and practice." 24 The latter type of  Treasure literature predominates, especially ritual manuals. Dozens of  genres of ritual are found in Treasure cycles, the range of which Gyatso describes in the following:25 construction of  ma ṇḍalas; manufacture of  ritual hats and costumes; geomantical analysis of  a place for its spiritual properties ( sa dpyad ); rituals to appease the human and non-human "owners" of  a place in which one intends to practice ( sa chog); methods to ascertain the disposition of the large being that constitutes the entirety of a place (sa 23

Ibid., 213.

24

Gyatso, "Drawn from the Tibetan Treasury: The  gTer ma Literature," 155.

25

Ibid., 159.

bdag lto 'phye); invocation of  blessings ( byin 'bebs); general

18

meritorious rituals performed between more complex rituals ( chos

spyod ); additional rituals to compensate for ritual transgressions (bskang bzhags); techniques for eating bits of  paper inscribed wi th therapeutic mantra letters (  za yig sngags 'bum); construction of  offering cakes ( gtor ma); mass offering-feast liturgies ( tshogs mchod ); consecration of  icons ( rab gnas); rites for the dead; burnt  juniper offerings ( bsang); construction of  thread -crosses ( mdos); uses of  effigies ( glud ); crop cultivation; weather control; turning back of  armies; protective devices against weapons; curing of  physiological and psychological disease; extending of lifespan (tshe sgrub). Davidson, as well as Cantwell and Maye r, have commented on the early symbiosis of  Kama and Terma literature. Speaking from the point of  view of  what the Treasures offered to the Kama communities, Davidson writes, "One of  Terma's most important purposes was to authenticate the great proliferati on of  Nyingma tantras (Kahma) from the tenth to the twelfth century." 26 Cantwell and Mayer consider the relationship from the other angle and make the compelling claim that, "in a very broad sense, [the Nyingma tantras of  the Kama (NGB)] serve as the measure and model for new gter ma revelation, which in general should not deviate too much from the NGB in style and contents." 27 Davidson even documents how 26

Davidson, Tibetan Renaissance, 228.

27

Cantwell and Mayer, The K  ī laya Nirvāṇa Tantra and The Vajra Wrath Tantra, 1.

fluid the distinctions between Kama and Terma could be in the early period, with

19

certain bodies of Great Perfection treasures eventually being reclassified as Kama.28 The earliest treasure revealers who became recognized as the exemplars of  the tradition and set the trend for later treasure discoverers were not monks but noncelibate tantrists. Such lions of  t he tradition include lay figures such as Nyangrel Nyima Özer, Guru Chökyi Wangchuk, Rindzin Gökyi Dentruchen, and Pema Lingpa.29 There are some monastic exceptions to this pattern, such as the monk treasure revealers Ngari Penchen ( mnga' ris paN chen; 1487 -1542) and Jatsön Nyingpo ( 'ja' tshon snying po ; 1585-1656). One reason for the predominance of lay treasure revealers is the understanding that the sexual yogas of  the fulfillment stage (rdzogs rim) are a necessary part of  the revelation process. 30 Gyatso sums up the connection between the practice and the lay character of  most tertöns by saying, "Treasure discovery is thought to require fulfillment yoga with an actual partner, and with few exceptions, all discoverers (who in large percentage were male) are said to have had recourse to a (female) consort at critical points in their careers."31 The treasure cult, therefore, was the domain of  figures that were dissimilar from the founding fathers of  Katok Monastery. The latter were scholar monks who 28

Davidson, Tibetan Renaissance, 228-229.

29

 Myang ral nyi ma 'od zer  (1136-1205),  gu ru chos kyi dbang phyug  (1212-1270), rgod kyi ldem 'phru can (1337-1409), and  pad+ma ling pa (1450-1521). See the biographical sketches of them in Dudjom Rinpoche, The Nyingma School of Tibetan Buddhism . 30

It can be argued that the more central issues behind the non-celibate character of the treasure communities lie in the tensions between monastic institutions and a perpetually expanding canon 31

Gyatso, Apparitions of the Self, 255.

lived in ce libate communities. Scholar monks accrued their stature through

20

monastic purity and scholarship, in addition to meditative proficiency. Furthermore, the texts they produced were highly complex scholastic treatises modeled on the Indian śāstras. Their model of  succession was often meritocratic, with leadership of  the monastery passing from one elite scholar to another. Treasure revealers, on the other hand, are famous for different types of  mastery and produce very different types of texts, and for different audiences, while succession tends to be biological. The biography of  the founder of  Katok Monastery Dampa Deshek does not recount him having any involvement with the burgeoning Terma movement in Central Tibet in the early twelfth century. There is no need to assume that Dampa Deshek actively avoided the Treasures. He simply seems to have not entered into their orbit, instead hewing closely to communities of  scholars and yogis that were committed to celibacy, scholarship, and scriptures purportedly translated from Indic languages. If  the founder of  Katok was uninvolved in the treasures, then how and when did the first encounter between early Katok lamas and the Treasure tradition transpire? The early nineteenth century Nyingma classic Guru Trashi's History records a very charged meeting between the seventh Katok abbot Mani Rinchen ( ma

 Ni rin chen; thirteenth cent.) and the major Buddhist treasure revealer, Guru Chökyi Wangchuk (Chöwang). 32 Guru Chowang styled himself  as the reincarnation of  the first great tre asure revealer, Nyangrel Nyima Özer (d. 1192), and furthered his

32

Ngawang Lodrö, Guru Trashi's History , 313. Jamyang Gyeltsen,  Brief History of Katok , 41-42, also covers this event.

predecessor's treasure discoveries. Guru Chöwang is best known in Tibetan and

21

western scholarship for his contributions to the Mani Kambum ( ma Ni bka' 'bum ) treasure cycle about the Mah ākarunika-Avalokiteśvara and the sacrality of  the Tibetan land and imperium. 33 In all, he discovered nineteen treasure cycles including a major installment of  the Eight Transmitted Precepts (bka' brgyad ).34 He was very famous even during his own lifetime and attracted students from all over Tibet to study with him. Mani Rinchen was a student of  Jampabum ( byams pa 'bum; 1179-1252), the third abbot of  Katok following the founders Dampa Deshek and Dorjé Gyeltsen.

Guru Trashi's History does not say which level of ordination he maintained but it is known that full ordination was still actively given at Katok at this time. For example, Jampabum is best known to Tibetan history for being the ordination master for the second Karmapa's full ordination, which took place while the latter was training at Katok during his youth.35 Jampabum appears to have been intrigued by the popularity around Guru Chöwang and his treasures, and thus sent Mani Rinchen to go to Lhodrak ( lho brag) in southern Tibet to study with him. Mani Ri nchen went and became a close member of  Guru Chöwang's inner circle. Nevertheless, the relationship broke down when the treasure revealer ordered the Katok monk to take

33

Kapstein, "Remarks on the Ma ṇi bKa'-'bum and the cult of Avalokitesvara in Tibet," and Phillips, "Consummation and Compassion in Medieval Tibet: The 'Ma ṇi bka'-'bum chen-mo' of Guru Chos-kyi dbang-phyug." 34

So far no comprehensive collection of his extant treasures has been published.

35

Kapstein, Tibetan Assimilation of Buddhism, 99.

22 on the non-celibate lifestyle of a lay yogi. Guru Trashi's History records this event in some detail. Regardless of  whether the interaction really happened as described, for the purposes of  this dissertation the import of  the account lies in the fact that in the post -Longsel age Katok historiography still maintained (or newly created?) a story that represents a degree of  incompatibility between the treasure communities and Kama-based monastic communities. Guru Trashi's History reports,36

Siddha Mani Rinchen was identified as the chief  treasure master of  Guru Chökyi Wangchuk's Gathering of the Further Heart of the Great 

Compassioate One. [Guru Chöwang then] prescribed ( lung bstan mdzad ) that his daughter Kundrölbum ( kun grol 'bum) [and Mani Rinchen] practice tantra together at Katok Monastery. Nevertheless Mani Rinchen would not transgress the ascetic discipline of monkhood and therefore the auspicious connections (between guru and disciple) suffered slightly. (Mani Rinchen subsequently returned to Katok) and immediately after completing his service of  constructing a reliquary (gdung 'bum) for the three patriarchs (of the monastery), right there (at the reliquaries) he used his lama's robes as wings and flew like a bird, alighting on the peak of  the far mountain. There is even a footprint there (which he left upon impact). 36

Ngawang Lodrö, Guru Trashi's History, 313: grub thob ma Ni rin chen gu ru chos kyi dbang phyug gi thugs rje chen po yang snying 'dus pa'i rtsa ba'i chos kyi bdag por ngos bzung zhing khong nyid kyi sras mo kun grol 'bum dang lhan gcig kaH thog tu sngags kyi lung bstan mdzad kyang ma Ni rin chen rab byung gi  brtul zhugs ma 'das pas rten 'brel cung zad 'phyugs/ 'on kyang gong ma rnam gsum gyi gdung 'bum sogs kyi zhabs tog mdzad pa'i las zin ma thag de nyid du bla gos gshog pa ltar mdzad nas nam mkha' la bya ba bzhin 'phur nas phar ka'i ri rtser bab/ der zhabs rjes kyang yod.

As asserted before, the lack of treasures in the program of early Katok was

23

likely due not to a conscious rejection of  that new cult, but instead due to a lack of  exposure to them on the part of  the monastery's founder. However by the early thirteenth century, the lamas at Katok, who trained entirely in eastern Tibet, apparently became interested in the burgeoning treasure cults in southern and central Tibet and wanted to experiment with their new liturgies and contemplative methods. Indeed, later Katok lamas did incorporate numerous treasure texts into the religious program at the monastery. As the story makes perfectly clear, however, the leaders of Katok could participate in the treasure traditions only to a point. The Katok lamas drew a line in the sand in terms of  practicing s exual yogas at Katok, and by extension, to hereditary rule at the monastery. Guru Chöwang's prescription that his daughter and Mani Rinchen "practice tantra"  – i.e., the sexual yogas of  the fulfillment stage  – at Katok were obviously viewed as a violation of the strict monasticism that had always characterized the monastery. Guru Chöwang's actions were also objectionable to the Katok lamas who created this story because bringing the female lama to Katok would have led to a change in the leadership of  the monastery. Whereas the previous lines of  succession followed from scholar to scholar, if  Mani Rinchen had brought the daughter of  a prominent treasure revealer to Katok, it would create the risk that their children might have set themselves up as the heirs to the throne, thereby displacing the scholar monks. Thus to the detriment of Mani Rinchen's relationship to his treasure teacher, he had to refuse the order because of its potential to fundamentally alter Katok as an institution.

Mani Rinchen returned to Katok with his vows intact and the next thing he

24

is reported to have done is honor the memory of the foundering patriarchs  – and by extension, their vision for Katok – by enshrining the relics of the first three abbots in a complex of stūpas at the monastery. 37 Furthermore, Mani Rinchen is portrayed as a

mahāsiddha who could fly through the air. None of  the previous lamas at Katok is represented in Guru Trashi's History as having this ability. Perhaps the reason for Mani Rinchen, of all people, having this power is that the tradition felt compelled to show that even though he foreswore the advanced sexual yogas, he still had great meditative accomplishments. In conclusion, this story demonstrates that at some point in its history the lamas of the monastery considered the possibility of adopting the emerging institutional practices of  the treasure communities. Ultimately they decided against it and the dominant ethical modality of the monastery remained that of the scholar monk inclined towards Kama traditions rather than the non-celibate, visionary tantrist with their practices of new revelations or Terma The recent  Brief History of Katok concludes its account of  the encounter between Mani Rinchen and Guru Chöwang by claiming that Mani Rinchen did not sever ties with his guru's treasures and that he in fact propagated them at Katok. 38 Regardless of the truth of that, there is no question that other treasures did find their ways into prominent roles in Katok's liturgical, contemplative, and even scholastic 37

This memorial came to be known as Kumbum Ringmo ( sku 'bum ring mo). The renovation of these stū pas is a major topic in Chapter Two of this dissertation. The three lamas whose relics are entombed in the stū pas are Dampa Deshek, Dorjé Gyeltsen, and Mani Rinchen's teacher Jampabum. 38

Jamyang Gyeltsen, 42.

programs. Yet, even though the monastery eventually became very involved in the

25

treasures, there is no record of  a non-celibate treasure revealer taking the throne at Katok and changing the institutional character of the monastery from monastic to lay tantrist. This never happened, that is, until the arrival of  treasure revealer Longsel Nyingpo at Katok in the middle of the seventeenth century. This began two centuries of transformation at Katok Monastery as the new treasure traditions engaged in a complex interplay with the older kama traditions against the backdrop of  changing political, intellectual, and religious changes that were sweeping across Nyingma monasteries in Eastern Tibet. It is these changes which the present dissertation documents and analyzes. Chapter Summaries

This dissertation sets out to address key questions in the study of  Tibetan institutional religion and the Nyingma School of  Tibetan Buddhism. What is the history of  Nyingma monasticism, especially given its early tendency towards lay leaders and communities? How did the Kama and Terma  – and their associated literary, ritual, and social dimensions  – relate to each other, especially within monastic institutions? What are the origins of  Nyingma scholasticism? When and how did reincarnate lamas gain their current high status in Nyingma monasteries? What are the origins of the renowned monasteries of Dege? What were the relations between the royal court of  Dege and the local Nyingma monasteries? This study addresses these questions through a detailed case study of Katok Monastery during a

26 period of turbulent transformations from the 1640s to 1829. Katok is ideal for such an inquiry because of  its long history with monasticism, complicated relationship with Terma traditions, and intimate connections with the Degé Kingdom. Chapter One analyzes the first stirrings of crisis at Katok mentioned earlier in the Introduction. The chapter begins with an overview of the political history of the region in which Katok Monastery is situated and an account of  the founding of  the Degé kingdom in the mid -seventeenth century. The seventeenth century was a vibrant time for Nyingma lamas and institutions in Kham. This is followed by a brief  account of  the rise of  the Drung lamas at Katok, which represents the last major change to occur at Katok before the period focused on by this study. The Drung lamas were a line of  monks that ruled Katok in the sixteenth and early seventeen centuries and who passed succession from uncle to nephew. The chapter moves on to introduce the key Nyingma lamas of  the period, especially the treasure revealer Dündül Dorjé (1615 -1672). This lama hailed from Degé and was an influential teacher. Dündül Dorjé taught and inspired several of  the most important Nyingma lamas of  late seventeenth century Degé. His most important student was Longsel Nyingpo (1625-1692), the great treasure revealer and court chaplain of  Degé who became the first treasure revealer to sit on the throne at Katok. Longsel Nyingpo was born in Litang and in his twenties trained u nder Dündül Dorjé for a time. After studying under Dündül, Longsel began his own prolific treasure career. Several of  his treasures are anthologized in the great nineteenth-century collection of terma, the

Great Collection of Precious Treasure (Rinchen Ter dzö; rin chen gter mdzod ).

27 Longsel Nyingpo also attracted royal patrons including a notorious descendant of  Guśri Khan and the Degé royal court. The second half  of  Chapter One is devoted to the chief  topic of  the chapter. Prior to the arrival of  Longsel Nyingpo a non -celibate revealer of  Treasures had never served as the head of Katok Monastery. With the rise of the Degé kingdom in the late 1630s and early 40s  – concurrent with the founding of  the Dalai Lama's government in Lhasa, the Ganden Podrang (dga' ldan pho brang) – Katok Monastery became subject to a powerful, new regional polity. The new kingdom exerted it s control over the monastery by imposing Longsel Nyingpo as the new head lama of  Katok. Longsel Nyingpo arrived at Katok with many family members and had an enormous impact on the monastery, especially on the monastery's administration and liturgies. Longs el altered the administration of  the monastery by establishing his family members and students at the head of  the see. Some of  Longsel’s successors were lay, some were reincarnated lamas, and most were neither monks nor scholars. Longsel also had an impact on the liturgies and contemplative practices at Katok through instituting the practice and recitation of  his treasures. Chapters Three and Four attest to how his treasures became deeply embedded into the religious programs at Katok. An earlier section of  this Introduction demonstrated that the Kama has always had a central role at Katok, which raises a question about whether Longsel perceived a need to modify any of  his treasures to be complementary with the established Kama traditions. Through an investigation of  the single treasure cycle that Longsel discovered at Katok, it is shown that he attempted to make at least some

of his treasures compatible with the Kama. Even though Longsel tried to bridge

28

the divide between his treasures and the Kama, the rise of his treasures at Katok still displaced the Kama to a significant degree for over a century at the monastery. Chapter Two explores the first documented criticism and resistance to the changes wrought at Katok by Longsel Nyingpo and his successors. This chapter furthers the investigation of  the nature and relations of  Kama and Terma in an institutional setting through giving voice to a prominent opponent of  these developments. The primary source for this study is the Collected Letters of  Katok Rindzin Tsewang Norbu (1698-1755). Tsewang Norbu is highly regarded by Tibetan and western scholars for his excellent historical writings and defense of  rare and embattled sects. In his youth, Tsewang Norbu was recognized as the reincarnation of  a student of  Longsel Nyingpo and he was raised in a milieu dominated by the treasure traditions of  Dündül Dorjé, Longsel Nyingpo, and their descendants. In his early twenties, Tsewang Norbu was offered the throne at Katok, but declined and instead left Kham for Central Tibet and the Himalayas, never to return. Tsewang Norbu became very active in the Karma Kagyü sect in the 1730s and 1740s and during this time maintained little, if  any, connection with Katok. Then in the early 1750s Tsewang Norbu developed a strong concern for the present state of Katok. He sent letters to the Dalai Lama, the king of  Degé, and local lamas in which he criticized Longsel’s descendants and argues for the revival of the Kama and celibate monasticism. Tsewang Norbu singles out the reincarnation of  Lo ngsel Nyingpo’s son, Drimé Zhingkyong (d. 1786), for the most severe censure. Drimé Zhingkyong

was the first reincarnation of  a former leader of  Katok (as opposed to  just an

29

affiliated lama) to head the monastery. His father was an associate of  Longsel Nyingpo and he was raised by the last members of  Longsel Nyingpo's biological family to run Katok. Tsewang Norbu portrays him as a corrupt and neglectful lama who is responsible for the decrepit condition of  the temples at Katok during his reign. Tsewang Norb u also makes the broader point that the problems currently plaguing the monastery were structural: abandoning monasticism, the study of  the Kama, and meritocratic succession leads to poor management and thus the overall degradation of  the monastery. Althou gh many of  his  judgments on the Longsel period are overstated or incorrect, they do provide the reader with a window onto how some Tibetan lamas perceived the differences between the Kama and Terma, and how they reacted to the rise of reincarnated lamas and new treasure traditions at Katok. In Chapter Two Tsewang Norbu painted a very bleak picture of  Katok Monastery in the middle of  the eighteenth century. Chapter Three reassesses this period through the lens of  other sources to produce a contrasting image of  great dynamism in Degé, Katok included. The first half  of  the chapter covers several burgeoning trends in Degé religion that were adopted by Katok:, i.e., reincarnated lamas, classical learning, and celibate monasticism. By the mid-eighteenth century the reincarnations of  Longsel Nyingpo’s relatives and students had completely eclipsed Longsel’s blood descendants at Katok. This chapter inquires into the social and religious forces favoring rule by reincarnation at Katok and the other Nyingma

monasteries in Degé. This topic is followed by a discussion of the rise of classical

30

learning and printing at Katok in mid eighteenth -century Degé. Section three analyzes a monastic revival that swept through the Kagyü and Nyingma monasteries in Degé in the middle of  the eighteenth century as spearheaded by Situ Penchen (1700-1774). Situ was a Karma Kagyü lama (the sect with which Tsewang Norbu was deeply involved) from Degé and one of  the greatest translators, editors, and artists of  later Tibetan history. Apart from his scholarship and duties to the Degé royal court and the Karma Kagyü School, Situ was also an ardent promoter of  monasticism at regional religious institutions, giving novice and full ordination to hundreds of  monks over his long career as a lama. Surprisingly, it is learned in this chapter that Drimé Zhingkyong – who was libeled by Tsewang Norbu – was actually one of  Situ Penchen's ordinands. Drimé Zhingkyong took full-ordination under Situ Penchen in a move that marked the gradual return of  widespread

celibate

monasticism at Katok after many decades of decline. The second half of the chapter focuses on more local concerns and charts the continued ascendancy of  Longsel Nyingpo's treasures at Katok. This is carried out through a close study of the early years of Getsé Mahāpaṇḍita (1761-1829), the most influential lama at Katok in all of  the eighteenth century. Getsé was a reincarnated lama of  the second generation of trülku leaders at Katok, and was trained by Drimé Zhingkyong and his fellow reincarnated lamas. This profile of  his training at Katok in the 1770s and 1780s serves as a window onto the religious and administrative programs at Katok one hundred years after Longsel Nyingpo. An examination of 

Getsé's early years indicate that Longsel Nyingpo's treasures had become the core

31

of Katok's contemplative and ritual agendas, while Kama commentaries and rituals composed by earlier Katok lamas were no longer being taught at Katok. In addition, some new Kama liturgies from Central Tibet were circulating at K atok, and reincarnated lamas dominated the administration of the monastery. Chapter Four, the final chapter, analyzes the resolution to the religious and administrative crisis that ensued upon Longsel Nyingpo's dominance at Katok in the late seventeenth ce ntury. In the century following the introduction of  Longsel Nyingpo's treasures, the Kama never regained a prominent place at Katok, even though the Kama had been central to Katok's self  image for many centuries. But beginning in the 1790s, Getsé was able to both revive the Kama and reformulate the liturgical, academic, and contemplative programs at Katok such that the Kama and Terma now enjoyed equal prominence. Getsé accomplished this by importing a new system of  Kama from Mindrölling Monastery near Lhasa , and revising some of  Longsel's treasures so that they were more suitable for widespread usage in a large monastic setting. The chapter first chronicles Getsé's revival of the Kama through the wholesale importation of  a new system of  Kama rituals and tantric commentaries. The second part of the chapter explores Getsé's revision of Longsel's treasures. Getsé reworked many of  Longsel's major rituals by writing liturgies that conform to standard large-scale monastic rites. He also wrote a long manual for one of Longsel's Dzokchen treasures. In both cases, Getsé was able to preserve the centrality of 

32 Longsel Nyingpo's tradition at Katok while repackaging this material so that it was fully compatible with the instituitonal needs of Katok. Prior to Longsel's time the Kama was the crown jewel of the Katok tradition. Katok lamas also maintained select treasure traditions, but they originated outside the monastery and adoption of them did not involve becoming a non-celibate monastery, or having the treasures displac e the role of  Kama as the primary focus of  the monastery (at least at the level of self-representation). Getsé turned this arrangement on its head. His resolution to the crisis unleashed by Longsel's arrival at the monastery  – i.e., how to reestablish the Kama in some meaningful way at Katok in the post -Longsel age  – was to present the Longsel treasures the unique Katok heritage, and introduce a new Kama system that was shared by other monasteries. Thus whereas the treasures used to be that element of  the overall religious program at Katok which kept the monastery in touch with broader trends in the sect while their system of  the Kama was something unique to the monastery, Getsé reformulated the monastery so that the reverse was now the case.

33

Chapter One: A Treasure Revealer Arrives at Katok

Katok Monastery underwent sweeping changes in the seventeenth century. During this hundred-year span new local political institutions and monastery leaders profoundly altered the economics, liturgies, and administration of Katok. The two primary dynamics behind these transformations were Longsel Nyingpo's efforts to reshape the monastery and the advent of  the Degé kingdom in the mid-seventeenth century. The first section of this chapter discusses the early history of the region and the dramatic rise of  Degé in the 1630s and 40s and its patronage of  Nyingma monasteries. The second section covers several seventeenth century lamas in Kham who were active in the broader Nyingma religious field of  the time and associated with Katok. Against this backdrop, the third section of the chapter turns to a detailed analysis of  treasure revealer Longsel Nyingpo's impact on Katok Monastery. In the late seventeenth century Longsel Nyingpo introduced his treasure traditions at Katok and ins tituted a new administration in the place of  a previously reigning line of  lamas. This analysis surveys Longsel's political alliance with Degé, his strategies for instituting his treasures at Katok, and his administrative reforms at the monastery.

34 The Rise of Degé The Early History of Kham

The early seventh -century rise of  the Pugyel ( spu rgyal) dynasty in the Yarlung ( yar klung) valley of  central Tibet produced unprecedented political unity for the Tibetan people. The Pugyel dynasty grew into an empire that extended its economic and military strength northward and eastward. To the north the Tibetans became an important force along the Silk Road of Central Asia. To the east, in what is now Qinghai, Gansu, and Sichuan provinces, Tibetan army garrisons settled in many areas along the edge of  the Tibetan plateau. With their arrival came Tibetan language, culture, and religion from Central Tibet, and the interaction with regional languages and cultures produced the distinctive but highly diverse Tibetan cultural region that came to characterize the plateau from the imperial period onwards. Natural features of  eastern Tibet's geography divide it roughly into northern and southern areas. The northern region, around the great Blue Lake ( mtsho sngon po; also known as Lake Kokonor and Qinghai Lake) and the upper reaches of  the Ma River ( rma chu; China's Yellow River, Huang He) is called Amdo ( a mdo).39 To the south, Kham "consists primarily of  the four valleys of  four great rivers, the Ngül River ([ rngul chu] Salween), Dza River ([ rdza chu] Mekong), Dri River ([ 'bri chu] Yangtze), and Nya River ([ nyag chu] Yalung, a tributary of the Yangtze) along with

39

This description based on Samuel, Civilized Shamans, 87.

40

their various tributaries and the high pasture ground" between them. After the

35

contraction and eventual dissolution of the Tibetan empire in the middle of the ninth century, Tibetan communities remained in these two outlying regions. Amdo and Kham eventually became home to over half of the Tibetan population and to cultural centers equal in influence and prestige to central Tibet. Contemporary Tibetan scholar of  Kham Karma Gyeltsen ( kar+ma rgyal

mtshan) recently wrote that the word kham ( khams) can mean frontier. "This term kham has many meanings but in this context ‘kham' means the march of  a country ( yul mtha'). In this way a principality on the marches is called a principality on the frontier (kham)." 41 Thus the Tibetan region of  Kham is named as such because it is on the "frontier" of  Greater Tibet ( bod chen), bordering China and various other polities. The Tibetan imperial period ended in the early 840s, and was succeeded by approximately one century of economic decline and social fragmentation. These two periods were followed by the so -called Tibetan renaissance (mid -tenth to mid thirteenth centuries), which was character ized by the rise to prominence of  new monastic lineages and clan -controlled temple networks. 42 Monks from Kham and Amdo participated in this rebirth of  Tibetan culture in Central Tibet, and its new institutions and modes of  praxis in turn spread back to eas tern Tibet. Katok 40

Ibid. , 65-66.

41

Gyaltsen, Compilation of Pilgrimage Guides to Kham (mdo khams gnas yig phyogs bsgrig), 430; khams zhes pa'i tha snyad ‘di la go don mang tsam yod pa yin la/ ‘dir gleng ba'i khams zhes pa ni/ yul mtha'i don te mtha'i rgyal phran la khams kyi rgyal phran du ‘bod pa ltar ro. Yudru Tsomu, "Local Aspirations and  National Constraints," 31-32 makes this same point with a citation from Gendun Chömpel's (dge 'dun chos 'phel; 1903-1951) White Annals (deb ther dkar po). ,

42

Davidson, Tibetan Renaissance.

Monastery, founded in 1159 by a monk from Kham who studied in Central Tibet,

36

is a representative example of  this process. The Tibetan renaissance was itself  followed by the Mongol period, corresponding to the Yuan dynasty (1271-1368). The Mongol -controlled Yuan dynasty enveloped Tibet within its sphere of  power. Yuan power expressed itself  in Kham in at least two ways. For one, Mongolians imposed their administrative and trade infrastructure deep into Kham, primarily in the southern and n ortheastern regions. Petech states that "Mongol influence penetrated deeper into Kham than Amdo, at least along the great trade route from Ch'eng-tu to Ta-chien-lu [Tib. dar rtse mdo], Li-thang and Ba-thang."43 Regular garrisons were permanently stationed in some Kham territories beginning in 1267 and "Li-thang was organized as a circuit ( lu) in 1278." 44 The economic and political ties between the Yuan dynasty and several regions within Kham represent a significant alteration to Kham society. The second way

the Yuan dynasty impacted Kham was through the

establishment of  Sakya ( sa skya) polities and monasteries throughout the region. These new institutions were aligned with the Sakya government in Tsang ( gtsang), which was established by the imperial preceptor to the Yuan dynasty Pakpa Lodrö Gyeltsen ( 'phags pa blo gros rgyal mtshan; 1235-1280). In the Tibetan and Chinese sources pertaining to thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth-century Kham, two polities 43

Petech, "sTon-tshul: The Rise of Sa-skya Paramountcy in Khams," 372. Ta-chien-lu has been renamed  by the Chinese to Kangding; its Tibetan name has been shortened from Dartsendo ( dar rtse mdo) to Dardo (dar mdo). 44

Ibid.

37 stand out as being particularly powerful: Lingtsang ( gling tshang) and Gonjo ( go

‘jo, ‘go gyo, etc). This is significant for our study because Degé conquered lands belonging to both of  these polities in the middle of  the seventeenth century. The leaders of  these two polities were Sakya monks who bore the title of  "great chief" (dpon chen).45 After the fall of  Sakya to Jangchub Gyeltsen ( byang chub rgyal

mtshan; 1302-1364) in the early 1350s, 46 the Sakya polities in Kham continued to thrive. The biographies of the fourth and fifth Karmapas ( kar+ma pa) make several mentions of dealings with the chiefs of Gonjo and Lingtsang.47 The relations between the Kham polities of Ling and Gonjo and Ming China were formed during the reign

45

Petech, “sTon-tshul: the rise of Sa-skya paramountcy in Khams.” Petech has brought to light important  biographical details about the founder of the Gonjo state, named Töntsul ( ston tshul ). He was a student of  Sakya Paṇḍita ( sa skya paNDi ta kun dga' rgyal mtshan ; 1182-1251) and in 1245 showed hospitality to the scholar and his nephew Pakpa Lodrö Gyeltsen when they were passing through Kham on their first trip to Mongolia. Thus before Töntsul became acquainted with the Sakya hierarchs he was already powerful – to some degree – in Gonjo. In 1274 Pakpa requested Qubilai Khan to elevate Töntsul's status in Kham. The request was granted and Töntsul was given the title governor-general ( spyi'i bdag po) of Kham. Petech (419) says, "Actually his authority was limited to Zal-mo-sgang (Zalmogang), i.e., the region of Derge and neighboring districts." Lingtsang was based around what is now Erzhi Township in northwestern Degé County and the main temple associated with the polity was Guzi ( ‘gu zi) Monastery. Lingtsang also had administrative centers in Dzongsar (rdzong  sar) and Cakra (lcags ra). The history of Lingtsang is not well documented. The contemporary historian and bibliographer Tashi Tsering, “History of the Gling-tshang Principality of  Kham," has done exhaustive research into the genealogy of the Lingtsang royal family and begins his  publication on the topic saying that the sources on Lingtsang are scarce and not illuminating. The traditional view holds that the Lingtsang family descends from Gyatsa ( rgya tsha), the half-brother of  Gesar. Tashi Tsering says that is highly doubtful and concludes that we will probably never know the family's origins. 46 47

van der Kuijp, "On the Life and Political Career of Ta'i-si-tu Byang-Chub Rgyal-Mtshan (1302-?1364)."

Petech, “Yuan Organization of the Tibetan Border Areas” and Sperling “Ming Ch'eng-tsu and the Monk  Officials of Gling-tshang and Gon-gyo;” In December of 1358 the fourth Karmapa Rölpé Dorje ( rol pa'i rdo rje; 1340-1383) met with the great chief Ling in Den ( 'dan), a Ling stronghold. The fifth Karmapa traveled to Gonjo in 1393 or 1401 and met with its chief.

48

of Yongle (r. 1402-1424). At least as far as the history of Degé is concerned, the

38

Ling polity maintained – even increased – its regional power until the advent of Degé in the middle of the seventeenth century. Degé Family history

The family that later founded and ruled the kingdom of  Degé claim themselves to descend from the Gar ( ‘gar, mgar ) clan, a sub-line of  the Go ( sgo) clan.49 The first generation of  this family was composed of  the Gar brothers Yeshé Zangpo (  ye shes bzang po) and Gar Dampa ( gar dam pa; also known as Gar Chödingpa; chos sdings pa), active in the mid-thirteenth century. Yeshe Zangpo and Gar Dampa were based in Powo ( spo bo) around the midthirteenth century. 50 The former's son Sönam Rinchen became Pakpa's majordomo (gsol dpon) and gained the favor of  Qubilai Khan. Later in life he settled in Samar (sa dmar; in present day P elyül [ dpal yul] County), where he administered a

48

Sperling, “Ming Ch'eng-tsu and the Monk Officials of Gling-tshang and Gon-gyo,” 78. This emperor –  more commonly known as Yongle – needed the cooperation of local leaders in Kham to secure safe access to Tibet of his diplomatic and trade caravans. The first mention in the Ming sources of these great chiefs acting in this capacity is in 1402, while by 1465 the protocol of Ling and Gonjo sending tribute missions to Beijing had been regularized (76). 49

Van der Kuijp, “Two Early Sources for the History of the House of Sde-dge.” This article compares earlier and later genealogies and discovers that the early official histories found in the index volumes to the Kanjur (1733) and Tenjur (1743) trace the family's genealogy only back to Yeshe Zangpo and Gar Dampa. The later Genealogy of the Degé Kingdom ( sde dge rgyal rabs ; 1828) pushes the lineage much further back  and identifies the minister Gar Tongtsen of imperial Tibetan fame as one of the family's earliest ancestors. 50

The primary source for this narrative about the early Degé family and the founding of the kingdom if  Kolmaš, A Genealogy of the Kings of Derge (including both Kolma š's introduction and the royal genealogy itself). Powo is sometimes spelled  spu bo (Puwo) or  spo yul  (Poyül). Stein, Tibetan Civilization, 21-26; remarks on Powo's lush forests, fine horses, special breed of small pigs, honey, bamboo, and spices. Stein also notes that some versions of the origin myth about the Tibetan people locate the birthplace of the first Tibetans in Powo (28).

monastic community of  one -thousand people. Yeshe Zangpo is considered the

39

patriarch of the first generation of the Degé family. Gar Dampa, his younger brother, was a famous Drigung ( ‘bri gung) lama who founded Pulung Monastery ( phu lung

dgon).51 The middle son of  the seventh generation Dechen Sönam Zangpo ( bde chen

bsod nams bzang po) also had a decisive role in the history of  the family. When his mother died he moved to Katok to perform funeral services for her. When he was ready to reenter the world his younger brother, a Nyingma lama, “prophesied" ( lung

bstan) that he should move his branch of  the family upward ( stod ) from Samar. He followed the orders and settled in Chakra (lcags ra; lcang ra). Chakra is less than ten miles south of  Degé's county seat. 52 During Dechen Sönam Zangpo's time Chakra was a regional administrative center for the Lingtsang kingdom. Lingtsang controlled Chakra and this new arrival became a minister of the local leader, who was called the Ling chieftain ( gling dpon). The name Degé also dates to this period. Degé is a contraction of  the four abundances (püntsok dezhi;  phun tshogs sde bzhi) and ten virtues (gewa chu; dge ba bcu).53

51

Van der Kuijp, “Two Early Sources for the History of the House of Sde-dge,” 3-6.

52

In the modern period the spelling and pronunciation was changed to "Changra;" Changra ( lcang ra) Township, Changra District (Gongya Xiang, Gongya Qu 龚垭乡龚垭区), Degé County. 53

The definition of the four abundances in the Great Tibetan-Chinese Dictionary (1718) is chos nor 'dod thar bcas 'jig rten dang/ 'jig rten las 'das pa'i phun tshogs sde bzhi ste [1] sangs rgyas kyi chos dar ba dang/ [2] nor longs spyod dang ldan pa/ [3] 'dod yon lnga la spyod pa/ [4] chos la brten nas thar pa mya 'das kyi go 'phang 'thob rgyu yod pa bcas so. The ten virtues are covered in nearly every traditional account of  Tibetan Buddhism in English.

Dechen Sönam Zangpo's son Botar ( bo thar ) was also a momentous figure

40

in Degé's history. A story about him in the  Index to the Degé edition of the Tengyur (1743) reports that he had a beautiful daughter who the Ling chieftain of  Chakra wanted to marry. 54 The text reports that in exchange for his daughter's hand he asked for all the land he could plow in one day. With his superhuman strength he plowed all the way from Khorlodo ('khor lo mdo)55 in the north to the Nyen valley of Chakra (lcags ra'i snyan mda' ) in the south. 56 Botar thereby became a minor chief  of  a fair amount of land within the Chakra Ling chieftain's domain. After the acquisition of  this land Botar moved the family to the Ngul valley (dngul mda'). In 1446 he then invited the elderly lama Tangtong Gyalpo (thang stong

rgyal po), who at the time was in Kham building bridges, and together they founded a temple. Cyrus Stearns summarizes the event as follows:57 The most historically significant of  the many monasteries Tangtong Gyalpo founded was probably at Dergé in eastern Tibet. When Tangtong visited Dergé in 1446, the king Potar Trashi Sengé became

54

Zhuchen, Sde dge'i bstan 'gyur dkar chag , 326.7. This story does not appear in Index to the Degé Kangyur, written a decade earlier. The chapter on the history of Degé in this latter work is much shorter  than the corresponding chapter in the Index to the Tengyur, resulting in the omission of many stories and details. 55

This place must be more or less identical to Khorlodo Township , Khorlodo District (Keluodong Xiang, Keluodong Qu 柯洛洞乡柯洛洞区), Degé County 56

I am not sure of the precise referent of this valley but it is around Chakra. It cannot be the valley in which the Ling chief's palace sat because the chief did not lose his political dominance to Botar, just some of his land. 57

Cyrus Stearns,  King of the Empty Plain, 56-57. Accounts of Thangtong Gyelpo's travels through Kham are found in Chapter Eleven of this book.

his patron and he became the king's teacher. It is said that he saw

41

that a lake at the foot of  the northern mountain in the upper valley of  Ngu was inhabited by a powerful n āga spirit. He tamed this spirit and bound it to the vow not to harm people and to create harmonious conditions in the area. Then he magically covered over the lake in a manner reminiscent of  the legends in the Compendium of Ma ṇis and laid the foundation for a monastery where the shores had been. When the construction was complete, he performed the rites of  the Dharma protector Caturmukha. Because all the conditions necessary for the prosperity of  the monastery were accomplished without any effort, as though spontaneously, it was given the name Lhundrup Teng. This center would become perhaps the most important monastery in all of  eastern Tibet, and the seat of  the Dergé rulers and of  the Sakya tradition in Khams. The temple they founded is what is known today as the Tangtong Temple (thang stong lha khang). It is a small temple with room for two rows of  approximately six monks. 58 For the next four generations the family seems to have maintained their small power base. However, everything changed dramatically during the family's fourteenth generation, in the second quarter of  the seventeenth century. 58

Kolmaš, A Genealogy of the Kings of Derge, 31 and 88, says that cells for one hundred and eight monks were also constructed for the temple. Such a large assembly of monks would not have fit in the temple and it is doubtful the economy at that time could have supported such a sizable monastic community.

After a century or more of  stasis as small-scale local rulers, in the 1630s

42

and 1640s the estate became the dominant political entity in the region. This was accomplished through a combination of  skillful military campaigns against its enemies and the good fortune to receive a large gift of  land from an outside power. The founding father of  Degé was Great Lama (Lachen) Jampa Puntsok ( bla chen

byams pa phun tshogs). Jampa Puntsok is a classic figure in the mold of  Tibetan lamas who were also great military men and politicians.59

 A Genealogy of the Kings of Derge, authored in 1828 by another monk-king, gives the most detailed description of this initial stage of Degé's growth available in any extant work. 60 The Royal Genealogy contains a transcription of  a text about this early history that originated as an inscription on a mural.61This very early document is called a "history of  the royal palaces, together with the commun ities of  their subjects" ( pho brang khag dang mi ser bcas kyi byung khungs lo rgyus).62 The text recounts how each of  the new territories was acquired. In brief, most came into 59

The foremost exemplar of this type of lama is the fifth Dalai Lama. Other such militaristic monks include Lama Zhang Tsöndrü Drakpa ( bla ma zhang brtson 'grus grags pa ; 1123-1193) and Changchub Gyeltsen. On the fifth Dalai Lama see Karmay, “The Fifth Dalai Lama and His Reunification of Tibet” and Sperling, “‘Orientalism' and Aspects of Violence in the Tibetan Tradition.” Lama Zhang's “warlordism" is covered in Martin, “Wrapping Your Own Head," and Davidson, Tibetan Renaissance, 327-335. Changchub Gyeltsen is treated in great detail by van der Kuijp in "On the life and political career of Ta'i-si-tu Byang-chub rgyalmtshan (1302-?1364)" and van der Kuijp, "Fourteenth Century Tibetan Cultural History 1: Ta'i-si-tu Byang-Chub Rgyal-Mtshan as a Man of Religion." 60

The author's name was Tsewang Dorjé Rikdzin ( tshe dbang rdo rje rig 'dzin;  b. 1786) and his mother  was the controversial queen dowager Tsewang Lhamo ( tshe dbang lha mo ). Her story will be discussed in Chapter Four. In 2009 I will translate this text as part of a postdoctoral fellowship at the at the C.N.R.S. in Paris. 61

, pp. 20.3-21.6.

62

Kolmaš,  A Genealogy of the Kings of Derge, 166n.19. The temple upon which the mural appeared was  painted over after the death of the author's mother, but he recorded it for posterity in the  Royal  Genealogies.

43 Degé's orbit either through loss in battle, peaceful surrender, or through the gift of  Guśri Khan.63 Many of these lands, however, were imperfectly integrated into Degé's dominion. In order to quell resistance and gain better control over the communities, subsequent kings had to team up with lamas and religious institutions to bring to heel outlying areas such as Pelyül in southern Degé, which is Katok's neighboring valley. In its first few decades of  existence the fledgling kingdom of  Degé took an active interest in Katok Monastery. Because of its long history Katok had significant social and economic ties with its surrounding areas. The first attempt to make alliances with the monastery was brokered by a treasure revealer who was from the area but had been living abroad since before the founding of the kingdom. His name was Dündül Dorjé (bdud 'dul rdo rje; 1615-1672) and his saga with the Degé court is the subject of the next section of this chapter. Dündül Dorjé and the Nyingma Tradition in Mid SeventeenthCentury Kham

Degé supported lamas who revitalized Katok Monastery in the second half of  the seventeenth century. The earliest Degé lama to be associated with these

63

For more on Gu śri Khan Tenzin Chögyel (1582-1655) and his role in Tibetan politics in the midseventeenth century see Kapstein, The Tibetans, 171-172. The list of "eighteen" palaces-cum-administrative seats actually enumerates twenty-one different locales: Méshö ( rme shod ; alt. spelling mad shod, dmad   shod, sman shod ); Péwar ( spe war ; alt. spelling dpe war, spe bar ); Karndo tsuri (mkhar mdo tshu ri ; alt. spelling mkhar sum mdo ); Karndo pari (mkhar mdo pha ri ); Kusi dénying (ku si sde rnying ); Kusé désar (ku  se sde gsar ); Nyagshi (nyag gshis); Polu ( spo lu; alt spelling spo lo, spo le, spo li); Garjé ( sga rje ); Tsamdo (tsam mdo); Öntö Phari (dbon stod pha ri ); Éna (e na); Korlomdo ('khor lo mdo); Rakchab (rag chab); Dzomtok ('dzom thog ; alt spelling 'dzam thog ); Chakra (lcags ra); Rabten (rab brtan); Yidlhung ( yid  lhung ); Horpo (hor po; alt. sp. hor spo).

developments at Katok was Dündül Dorjé. Cuevas' succinct description of 

44

Dündül's eminence is accurate and bears repeating here at the outset. "Dundul Dorjé was a lama of  impressive stature in eastern Tibet during the second half  of  the seventeenth century. He was well connected to all the major Nyingma monasteries in that region and had cultivated close ties with the rulers of Derge and Ling. In Derge his most influential patron was Jampa Phüntshok."64 This section will discuss Dündül Dorjé's role at Katok and his tutelage of  many of the chief Nyingma lamas of the later seventeenth century. Dündül's life and teaching career will serve as a lens through which to assess the complexities of  seventeenth-century Kham institutional religion, especially the revival of  Katok monastery. It will be seen that the seventeenth century was a period of efflorescence during which several treasure revealers who founded important and long la sting traditions flourished in Kham. The main lamas of the day were primarily involved in the treasure cults, with little or no activity directed towards the Kama (bka' ma). Dündül Dorjé 65 was born in 1615 66 in Ngülpu ( dngul phu) valley, the home base of the Degé family.67 His natal home is walking distance, up the valley, from the

64

Cuevas, The Hidden History of the Tibetan Book of the Dead , 187.

65

The two main sources for Dündul Dorje's life used in this thesis are his Biography and History of  Treasure Discoveries ( rig 'dzin grub pa'i dbang phyug bdud 'dul rdo rje'i rnam thar gter 'byung mdor bsdus  pa dad pa'i mchod stong , v. 10, pp. 1-54) written by his student Takrepa Künzang Pema Loden (stag ras pa kun bzang pad+ma blo ldan), and Ngawang Lodrö, Guru Trashi's History ( gu ru bkra shis chos 'byung ). The latter contains one long entry on his life (566-571), returns to the topic in the entry on Katok  Monastery (752-753), and mentions him several other times in other chapters. 66

Dudjom Rinpoche, The Nyingma School of Tibetan Buddhism, 813, and the Great Tibetan- Chinese Dictionary (bod rgya tshig mdzod chen mo), 3263, report that he was born in a wood rabbit year (shing yos, 1615), whereas Dündül's Biography and History of Treasure Discoveries, 12.3, Guru Trashi's History, 566, and Jamyang Gyeltsen's Brief History of Katok, 86, are in agreement that he was born in the fire rabbit year 

Lhündrupténg temple and where the Degé royal palace would later be built. He

45

was born into the Ling family line, which at this time still had at least nominal control of  the region . His father's name was Lukyap ( klu skyabs) and he was an expert in Tibetan medicine. Dündül's mother's name was Boluma (bo lu ma). Dündül Dorjé was a mystic prodigy who at an early age is said to have displayed magical powers and seen visions. His parents wanted to make him a monk and took him to a visiting Sakya lama for a tonsure ceremony when he was fiveyears old. The lama was Sakya Dakchen Jamyang Tutop Wangchuk ( sa skya bdag

chen 'jam dbyang mthu stobs dbang phyug; 1588-1637), who traveled from Sakya to Kham in 1620.68 His first destination was Degé, where he was a guest of the princely lama Kunga Gyatso, the older brother of  the eventual founder of  Degé Jampa Puntsok. During his visit the Sakya Dakchen met the young Dündül Dorjé and performed the tonsure ceremony for him, ushering the boy into the religious life. After his stay in Derge the Sakya Dakchen went to Trehor ( tre hor in Kardzé, dkar 

mdzes) and the two never met him again.69

(me yos; 1627). There is a consensus among the texts, though, about how old he was when he died and the year he died, e.g., age 58 in the water rat year (chu byi; 1672). This affords us with a basis from which to select between the two different dates offered for his birth. The date of wood rabbit year (1615), found in the former two sources, is clearly the most reasonable option. 67

Takrepa Künzang Pema Loden, Biography and History of Treasure Discoveries, 11.6, highlight's his  birthplace's proximity to Katok: shar phyogs mdo khams dpal kaH thog gi sa'i cha/ 'bri chu dal 'bab kyi g.yon/ sde dge pho brang gi mnga' ris/ zul chu'i rgyud 'bri gnyan 'dong rdo rje blo gros kyi gnas dang nye  ba/ rlung mda'i pho brang gi phu rdo thang zhes bya ba. 68

Kunga Lodrö (kun dga' blo gros; 1729-1783),  Addendum to the Sakya Genealogy Marvelous Storehouse (sa skya'i gdung rabs ngo mtshar bang mdzod kyi kha skong), 238-239. 69

Ibid., 239.

46 A few years later Kunga Gyatso gave Dündül Dorjé ordination as a novice monk and bestowed on him the name Kunga Sönam Chöpak ( kun dga' bsod nams

chos 'phags).70 While still a youth and studying in his homeland Dündül apprenticed under two more teachers: Shenyen Chökyong Trashi ( bshes gnyen chos skyong bkra

shis)71 and Ardo K önchog Sengé ( a rdo dkon mchog seng ge).72 Dündül greatly admired Ardo and later left Lhundrupténg to follow him to the vibrant Muksang (rmug sangs) religious center nearby for training. 73 Muksang is located in Jomda ( jo

mda'), which later became part of the Degé kingdom. In his early twenties Dündül Dorjé traveled to Ü and Tsang ( dbus gtsang), taking the southerly route through Kongpo ( kong po). In Kongpo he studied Dzokchen with the siddha and treasure revealer Trashi Tseten ( grub thob gter ston

bkra shis tshe brtan ) of Chakdé (lcags sde).74 This lama founded the "close lineage of  the one-to-one transmission of the esoteric path focusing on the common upper door 70

Takrepa, Biography and History of Treasure Discoveries , 12.5-13.1: Kunga Gyatso was an ecumenical lama and studied under several eminent Sakya and Nyingma masters; For a list of his teachers see Kolma š,  A Genealogy of the Kings of Dege, 90-91. 71

He appears not to have been an important lama in the lineage and little is written about him in the histories. 72

Jamyang Gyeltsen, Brief History of Katok , 83.

73

Muksang (variously labeled a dgon pa, ri khrod, and  sgrub gnas) is located near Pelyül Monastery, though on the opposite side of the Dri River. Muksang was a hub of Nyingma and Kagyü visionary movements in the seventeenth centuries. The most renowned lamas associated with the center during this time were Karma Chakmé (kar+ma chags med; 1613-1678), Namchö Mingyur Dorjé ( gnam chos mi 'gyur  rdo rje; 1645-1667), and Kunzang Sherap ( kun bzang shes rab; 1636-1698). The latter went on to found Pelyül Monastery in 1665. For more on Muksang see the late Jampel Zangpo's ( 'jam dpal bzang po ; b. 1900) "biography" of the place, called  phrin las grub pa'i dben gnas chen po rmugs sangs gnas kyi rtogs brjod tshangs sras bzhad pa'i sgra dbyangs. 74

Takrepa, Biography and History of Treasure Discoveries , 13.4. Jamyang Gyeltsen,  History of Katok, 87, calls him Nyang po Bkra shis tshe brten.

and uncommon lower door teachings" (nye brgyud gsang lam gcig brgyud kyi thun

47

mong stod sgo thun min 'og sgo skor ).75 Dündül Dorjé learned the subtle body yogas from this master and put them into practice by the side of the Drakkar Lhachu River (brag dkar lha chu). Dündül Dorjé became so proficient in the practices he was able to abandon solid food and subsist on consecrated herbal pills ( bcud len). After an unstated amount of  time, Dündül Dorjé continued his travels, going as far west as Sakya (sa skya) before turning back.76 He returned to Kongpo, and at age twenty-five met Jatsön Nyingpo ( ‘ja' tshon snying po ; 1585-1656), a master who would change his life. 77 Jatsön Nyingpo was one of the most consequential treasure revealers of the first half of the seventeenth century. His treasure cycle the Gathering of All Precious

 Jewels (Könchok Chidü; dkon mchog spyi 'dus) cycle is easily one of  the most widespread treasure traditions in Tibet. Jatson Nyingpo gave Dündül many teachings and initiations. He then ordered Dündül to go to Powo – long a stronghold of treasure activity – to practice assiduously while waiting for a prophecy regarding his destined Treasure revelations. 78 He did so, expending much effort on the practice of  Ratna 75

http://tbrc.org/link?RID=P6992. This record on the Tibetan Buddhist Resource Center's online database cites as its source for this information tshe dbang nor bu'i rnam thar gyi cha shas brjod pa ngo mtshar dad   pa'i rol mtsho (f. 47v). 76

Takrepa, Biography and History of Treasure Discoveries, 13.6-14.1

77

A hagiographical sketch of Jatsön Nyingpo is found in The Nyingma School of Tibetan Buddhism by Dudjom Rinpoche, 809-812. Ngawang Lodrö, Guru Trashi's History, 518, notes that Trashi Tseten and Jatson Nyingpo were treasure masters ( chos bdag ) of each other's Treasures. Jatson Nyingpo was also a teacher of Dundul's first teacher Kunga Gyasto. 78

Takrepa, Biography and History of Treasure Discoveries, 14; khyod rang spu bor song la rtse gcig tu  bsgrub pa la 'bungs shig dang de'i dus su khyod la lung bstan 'ong zhing skal pa zhig yod do. The age of 25 is not mentioned in either of the two biographical sources yet it is given in the "secret autobiography:" dag snang yid bzhin nor bu dbang gi rgyal po skyo bsangs ma (v. 10, pp. 55-128). This latter work is a detailed account of the mystical experiences surrounding his first treasure extraction.

48 Lingpa's Utterly Secret and Unsurpassed K ī la (rat+na gling pa'i phur pa yang

gsang bla med kyi sgrub pa ). Dündül Dorjé's treasure discovery career commenced a few years later when he was twenty-eight-years old, and continued until his death at age fifty-eight. Dündül Dorjé's Textual Treasures

Dündül Dorjé's thirty -year career as a treasure revealer resulted in the "discovery" of textual treasures and a variety of material objects such as statues and pills.79 He also consecrated many “hidden valleys” ( sbas yul) and pilgrimage spots, whose locations he identified and described to other Tibetans. Within a century of his death Dündül's written treasures had been codified into a twelve-volume collection and the edition currently in circulation also has twelve volumes,80 though its editorial history has yet to be studied in depth. 81 Treasures from two of  these cycles (plus a

79

The source for the next two paragraphs is Takrepa, Biography and History of Treasure Discoveries , esp. the chapter on Dundul's revelation of treasures (21.6-47.4). 80

The xylographic edition currently in wide circulation was carved and printed in the early twentieth century by Pema Thukje Wangchuk ( pad+ma thugs rje dbang phyug ), the son of Tertön Drimé ( gter ston dri med ). This family of lamas was based at Sengri ( seng ri ) Monastery – nearby to Katok Monastery – in  present-day Pelyül County, Sichuan. This twelve-volume edition of his treasures contains over eight named treasure cycles. Bairo Tulku published the entire set (apparently complete), together with its companion collection of the Collected Treasures of Longsel Nyingpo , in Darjeeling in 1997. 81

The best single source for this history is the work in Longsel Nyingpo's Collected Treasures called Account of the Publication of Longsel Nyingpo's Treasures (klong gsal snying po'i zab chos skor rnams seng ri'i chos sgar du spar du bskrun pa'i gtam bstan pa mi nub pa'i rgyal mtshan), which explains the  publication of both collections.

49 pilgrimage guide; gnas yig) have been included in the famous Rinchen Terdzö (rin

chen gter mdzod ) compilation of treasure texts.82 While meditating at Yutso Rinchendrak (g.yu mtsho rin chen brag) in Powo at age twenty-eight (approx. 1642), Dündül Dorjé obtained the registry ( kha byang) for his first treasure cycle, the Collection of the Intention of the Holy Dharma ( Damchö

Gongpa Yongdü;  Dam chos dgongs pa yongs ‘dus). Dündül Dorjé's fi rst consort Lhachik Pemakyi ( lha gcig pad+ma skyid ) assisted his excavation of  this treasure cycle. Dündül and Lhachik Pemakyi had a son named Gyelsé Norbu Yongdrak (rgyal

sras nor bu yongs grags) who later became an important member of  his father's community. Soon after, Dündül revealed his second Treasure cycle in three volumes, the

True Doctrine, the Innermost Spirituality of the Body of Emanations ( Damchö Trülku  Nyingtik; dam chos sprul sku snying thig ). It was also highly regarded in some later Nyingma circles and several titles from it were included in the Rinchen Terndzö. This cycle also proved to be very controversial later in his life because of  its confrontational prophesies.83 The third of  Dündül Dorjé's four major cycles of  textual Treasures is t he Profoundly Significant, Secret Innermost Spirituality (Zabdön Sangwa Nyingthik; zab don gsang ba snying thig). He discovered it in Puri Dakdzong Puk (spu ri dwags 82

Treasures from the True Doctrine, Innermost Spirituality of the Body of Emanation (sprul sku snying thig) and Trio of Amitayus, Yangdak, and K  ī la, and a pilgrimage guide (gnas yig) of the Machen Pomra (rma chen spom ra) are collected in the Great Storehouse of Precious Treasures. 83

Cf. Ronis, "Bdud 'dul rdo rje (1615-1672) and Rnying ma Adaptations to the Era of the Fifth Dalai Lama."

rdzong phug ), which would appear to be somewhat to the west of  Powo. The

50

fourth and final major cycle of  Treasures that Dündül Dorjé discovered during his very productive thirties was excavated in Puri Shelgyi Yangdrom (spu ri shel gyi yang sgrom ). It is called the Trio of  Amitāyus, Yangdak Heruka, and Vajrak ī la (Tseyangphur Sum; tshe yang phur gsum). Dündül Dorjé Returns to Degé

By the time of  Dündül's fourth series of  Treasures, when he was in his later thirties, his fame had spread to his home region of  Degé. Dündül's old teacher, Kunga Gyatso and the first king of  Degé Jampa Püntsok invited him to return to Degé.84 There is a short text in Dündül's Collected Treasures that claims to be a song written to register his feelings about the invitation and prospects of going to Degé to be a court lama of  a polity much larger than the local scale in which he had been operating in Powo. The work is called  Mad Song Expressing Discouragement by

 Madman Dündül Dorjé  (mi smyon bdud 'dul rdo rje'i glu smyon yid skyo ma ). In the "mad song" Dündül feigns embarrassment ( khrel) about the invitation. The song begins,85 "Guru pema siddhi hung. Once while in retreat on Déchen Plain  – in front of Dak Mountain's secret spirit, a meditation site of  the Guru  – the dharmar ā ja of 

84 85

Takrepa, Biography and History of Treasure Discoveries, 15.6-16.2.

Dündül Dorjé, Mad Song Expressing Discouragement by Madman Dündül Dorjé, 170.1: gu ru pad+ma sid+d+hi hUM hrI: kho bo bdud 'dul rdo rje bdag: gu ru'i bsgrub gnas dwags ri gsang ba gnyan gyi mdun:  bde chen thang du mtshams skabs zhig tu: dpal mi'i dbang po shar mdo khams chos rgyal sa skyong bstan  pa'i bdag po snyan pas sa phyogs kun la khyab pa: sde dge nas spyan 'dren pa nan du 'ong ba la brten nas: nga sdod dang nga chis kyi rnam rtog lu gu rgyud de shor bas: rang gis rang yid khrel zhing 'di skad ces smras so.

Kham, king ( sa skyong), and master of  the teachings, whose fame pervades all

51

places, fervently invited me, Dündül Dorjé to Dege. As a result I got lost in an interlocking chain of thoughts of ‘I will stay' and ‘I will go' such that I embarrassed myself and uttered the following (mad song)." Dündül's main concern in the body of  the text is that going to Degé somehow may lead to his meeting with Yamarā ja, Lord of Death. In this song Dündül sings, 86 "I have no idea when the Lord of Death, fatal conditions, will befall (me). Like a duck waiting for fish; like a seizer -planet eclipsing the sun and moon; and a hawk with a baby bird in its talons, when will Yama the Lord of Death strike me, a beggar monk, with the same fate?" In the song Dündül applies cont emplative teachings to his concerns about dying during his trip to, or stay in, Degé. In the later verses he defiantly states that he "has no fear" ( mi ‘jigs). A few representative lines are, 87 "If the great enemy called Yama, Lord of Death is going to strike, then tell him to hurry and come now! I am a descendant of the deathless Padmasambhava, and the sky-like clear light of intrinsic awareness is indestructible. I am not afraid of the superficial (deeds of) Yama, Lord of Death." In this song Dündül Dorjé does not anticipate any of  the other troubles that he may encounter while a court lama of a young and expanding kingdom with an established state temple belonging to a sect other than his own.

86

Ibid., 171.1: 'chi bdag gshin rje zer ba'i dgra bo che: 'on kyang 'ong na da lta myur du shog: 'chi med  pad+ma 'byung gnas bu rgyud dang: rang rig 'od gsal nam mkha' 'jig med la: glo bur 'chi bdag gshin rjer  nga mi 'jigs. 87

Takrepa, Biography and History of Treasure Discoveries, 15.6.

In 1656, at the age of forty-two, of  forty-two, Dündül Dorjé made a triumphant return to

52

Kham as an established religious master and discover of  revealed treasures. The

 Biography  – a  –  a biased source, no doubt –  doubt  – says says that he was given a grand reception at the palace that was attended by all of the of  the lamas in the region. 88 In terms of Dündül's of  Dündül's participation in the broader pan -Tibetan religious world, the move to Degé was certainly his greatest professional advancement to date. The court interpreted Dündül's presence in Degé as the fulfillment of  a prophecy to benefit the religious and sec ular spheres of  the kingdom.

89

The government even sponsored the

construction of  a temple bearing his name  – the  –  the Demon Taming Temple (Dündül Lhakhang; bdud ‘dul lha khang )  – in  –  in which rituals were to be performed by Dündül for the benefit and protection of  t he state. 90 The recent  Brief History of Katok says that the liturgies recited at the temple were protector rites from Dündül's own treasures.91 Dündül also traveled widely in Degé, perhaps in his capacity as a royally sponsored lama. He spent the majority of  his time in the southern parts of  the kingdom, including Dzin ( 'dzin /  'dzing), Barom ( 'ba' rom), and Katok. Dündül Dorjé's Biography does not make special mention of his of  his activities while at Katok, and neither does Guru Trashi's History or the Brief History of Katok  Katok .

88

Ibid.,

89

Ngawang Lodrö, Guru Trashi's History, 567.

90

Ibid.

91

Jamyang Gyeltsen, 87: bdud 'dul lha khang zhes grags pa de bzhengs nas rang lugs kyi bstan srung rnams rgyun du mchod pa'i mgon khang bzhag.

Despite having been invited by the king of  Dege, Dündül Dorjé and the

53

court had a major falling out. The best account of  the difficult situation is found in

Guru Trashi's History , which is frequently candid about such controversies and scandals.92 This Nyingma-biased work describes the event as follows, 93 The dharmarā ja of  Degé respectfully worshipped (Dündül) and built the Demon Taming Temple and others at Lhundrüpténg in the Ngül Valley. (Together they) accomplished many activities that fulfilled the prophecies about (Dündül) benefitting the Teachings and government. Nevertheless owing to several demonic ministers the auspicious connections of  the arrangements were nearly disrupted ( log min du

gyur pa). (Dündül) became discouraged and as he ex presse pressedd in the ‘Mad Song of  Sudden Sadness' ( smyon glu thol ma ), the treasure revealer and his disciples fled to Lingtsang." In a later chapter of  Guru Trashi's History there is another, more specific account of  the incident: "Because of the of  the deliberate misconstructions ( log sgrub) and 92

The  Biography and History of Treasure Discoveries does not recall that Dündul had problems.  gter ston Furthermore, Jamgön Kongtrül biographical compendia the  Hundreds of Treasure Revealers ( gter brgya rtsa) and Dudjom Rinpoche's  History of the Nyingma School  are also silent on the incident. 93

Ngawang Lodrö, Guru Trashi's History, 567: sde dge chos kyi rgyal pos bsnyen bkur gyis mchod nas dngul mda' lhun grub steng du bdud 'dul lha khang sogs bzhengs nas bstan srid la phan pa'i lung don sgrub  pa sogs mdzad kyang/ bdud rigs kyi blon po 'ga' zhig gis mtshams sbyor gyi rten 'brel log min du gyur pas thugs skyo nas smyon glu thol ma gsung mgur du gnang ba bzhin gter ston dpon slob rnams gling tshang  phyogs su bros stabs sta bs su phebs. The full name of this song is the mA ra bi na ya badz+ra gyi smyo glu thol  byung ma, and it is found in Dundul Dorjé's Collected Treasures, v. 10, pp. 173-190. The mad song referred to in the excerpt is the companion to the previously cited song. This one is a long diatribe that uses a stream of animal analogies and rhetorical questions to express Dündül's fury at the various forces that thwarted his work in Degé. Unraveling its many allusions and meanings is beyond the scope of the present study.

slander made by many clever and impudent ones such as lama Sangyé Pelzang

54

(sangs rgyas dpal bzang) the auspicious connections between the great king of Degé of  Degé and Rindzin Dündül Dorjé were derailed."94 After the falling-out,95 Dündül Dorjé and his entourage fled to Lingtsang. This kingdom was to the north of Degé of  Degé and at this time was in a greatly reduced state due to the rise of  Degé. Dündül Dorjé also traveled to Barkham ( bar khams), Gatö ( sga

stod ), ), Denyul ( ldan yul; same as ldan/ ‘dan ma), and Karma Lhaténg ( kar+ma lha steng) after leaving Dege. The Guru Trashi's History concludes its account of  Dündül's jinxed Dündül's jinxed time in northern Kham with a mention of  the date of  his return to Powo: 1661. Thus his entire sojourn to his radically transformed homeland and neighboring areas took over seven years. Back in Dechentang, Powo, Dündül was once again in friendly territory. There he attracted many young lamas who would go on to become major figures in Degé religion. Dündül was also an active teacher and mentor, in addition to being a prolific treasure revealer. His list of  dharma heirs reads like a who's who of  great lamas 94

Ngawang Lodrö, Guru Trashi's History, 752: de yang sde dge sa dbang chen po/ rig 'dzin bdud 'dul rdo rje gnyis/ bla ma sangs rgyas dpal bzang sogs mi bsrun pa'i blo can mang po zhig gis log sgrub dang snyan  phra la brten rten 'brel gzhan dbang du gyur ba la… 95

We will never know exactly what transpired during Dündul's short stay in Degé such that he had to flee to Lingtsang. It is reasonable, though, to assume that his problems in Degé are attributable to both 1) sectarian opposition to him from Sakya lamas and 2) his own naiveté. Despite whatever appreciation the king had for his revelations, the Degé family had long been patrons of the Sakya sect. While he was occupied with establishing a place for himself in the overall religious field of Degé, he also had to compete with the missionary efforts of the Sakya lamas who were also invited to the region. It is likely that important members of the court's inner circle were bigoted against non-Sakya lamas and institutions and did their best to thwart his attempts to establish himself as a long-term presence. Yet part of the blame must also be laid at Dündul's feet. Clearly his diplomatic skills were not up to the task of dealing with the fraught situation in Degé. His dealings with the fifth Dalai Lama show Dündul to be rash and opportunistic. Perhaps these personality traits also contributed to his unceremonious departure from Degé. Cf. Ronis, "Bdud 'dul rdo rje (1615-1672) and Rnying ma Adaptations to the Era of the Fifth Dalai Lama."

active in Kham in the latter half of  half  of the the seventeenth century: founder of Dzokchen of  Dzokchen

55

Monastery Pema Rindzin ( pad+ma rig 'dzin; 1625-1697), treasure revealer Mingyur Dorjé ( mi 'gyur rdo rje ; 1645-1667), treasure revealer Nyima Drakpa ( nyi ma grags

 pa; 1647-1710), treasure revealer Taksham Nüden Dorjé (stag sham nus ldan rdo rje ; b. 1655), and others. Dündül's teaching career began before his trip to Degé and continued (seemingly) unabated after his exile from the kingdom. The sources give the impression that during the 1650s and 60s Dündül Dorjé was the Nyingma teacher to seek out for training and blessings, much as Jatsön Nyingpo was for him.96 Dündül's most devoted student, however, and the one most pertinent to the study of  Katok monastery, is Longsel Nyingpo ( klong gsal snying po; 1625-1692). He was another great treasure revealer and Degé court lama whose lineages persist to the present and work is canonized in the Rinchen Terndzö. This chapter now turns to his life story and his historic role in the development of  Katok Monastery. To conclude, however, it should be reiterated that the preceding section has shown that on the eve of  Longsel Nyingpo's arrival at Katok that two regional developments were significant for Katok. Firstly, the monastery now lay within the domain of  a new and rising polity, Dege. Secondly the most famous Nyingma lamas in Kham at this time were primarily involved in treasure cults and not the Kama, scholasticism, or celibate monasticism.

96

For more on Dündül Dorjé's teaching career see Ngawang Lodrö, Guru Trashi's History ; Karma Chakmé, Outer Biography of Trülku Mingyur Dorjé , ch.15; Dudjom Rinpoche,  Nyingma School of Tibetan  Buddhism, 813-817.

56 Longsel Nyingpo and the Revival of Katok of  Katok

The preceding sections laid the groundwork for an examination of  Longsel Nyingpo's impact on Katok Monastery in the late seve nteenth century. Longsel Nyingpo set in motion several processes at Katok that rocked the cultural and administrative life of the of  the monastery for many generations. In many respects the rest of the of  the dissertation is an analysis of  the fallout from Longsel Nyingpo's momentous tenure at Katok. This section will consider Longsel Nyingpo's activities and influence at Katok in terms of  three rubrics: 1) Longsel's pre -Katok religious career as a treasure revealer based in southern Kham, his invitation from the royal court of Degé of  Degé to visit the kingdom, and his move to Katok Monastery; 2) Longsel's revelation at Katok of  a new cycle of  treasures that was composed so as to be compatible earlier Katok traditions; and 3) Longsel's immediate successors at Katok and an assessment of their of  their impact on the adminstration of the of  the monastery. Longsel Nyingpo's Early life and move to Degé

The primary source for Longsel Nyingpo's life is the profile of  him found in

Guru Trashi's History .97 Unfortunately his Collected Works Collected  Works in twelve volumes does not contain any substantial biographical writings (unlike Dündül Dorjé's Collected 

Works). Longsel Nyingpo was born near the renowned sacred mountain Kampo Né (kaM po gnas) in southern Kham, where the highlands of  Litang meet the forested valleys o f Batang. f  Batang. He came from a farming family and their village was in an area 97

Ngawang Lodrö, Guru Trashi's History, 571-574 and 752-754.

called Trapa ( dpra pa, dbra pa, or dbra bya), located in present -day Litang

57

County, Sichuan. Longsel was born in 1625, the female wood ox year of  the tenth sexagenary cycle. During his early childhood Drupwang Tenpa Gyatso ( grub dbang

bstan pa rgya mtsho) initiated him into the mandala of  the Fierce Guru ( gu ru drag  po) and gave him the name Wangdrak Gyatso (dbang drag rgya mtsho). Longsel Nyingpo was very religious as a child but his parents refused to let him take ordination. At age twenty-two he ran away from home to study the Dharma (chos bros) and traveled to the Degé area during the first full decade of the kingdom's existence, the 1640s. For three years he studied at both Katok and Kham Ujang Monastery ( khams dbus byang dgon). The latter monastery is in Garjé ( sga rje), which is to the south of  Katok and also in present -day Pelyül County. 98 There he studied with Garjé Chökyong Gyatso ( rga rje chos skyong rgya mtsho ).99 At Katok Monastery he studied with one of Dündül Dorjé's teachers, Ardo Könchok Senggé (a

rdo dkon mchog seng ge).100 Longsel was very poor when he first arrived at Katok but nevertheless experienced visionary dreams and met a great lama. A colophon from one of Longsel's writings quotes a statement made by Longsel about his threeyear stay at and around Katok during this period of training. This account begins,101 98

The History of the Monasteries in Kardzé Prefecture ( khams phyogs dkar mdzes khul gyi dgon sde so so'i lo rgyus gsal bar bshad pa ), vol. 2, 203-213, contains a detailed account of this monastery. 99

Ngawang Lodrö, Guru Trashi's History , 765

100

Both Ngawang Lodrö's Guru Trashi's History and Kenpo Jamyang's  A Brief History of Katok  say that Longsel studied with Ado Könchok Gyeltsan ( a rdo dkon mchog rgyal mtshan ), but this is impossible as he lived long before Longsel. Rather he studied with Ado Könchok Sengé, who was also Dündul's teacher. 101

Longsel Nyingpo, Ocean of Offering Clouds Used During General Assemblies (spyi tshogs mchod sprin rgya mtsho), 658. The full colophon reads, ces pa yang kaH thog tu dang po slebs dus longs spyod bkren pa

When I first arrived at Katok my provisions were meager. In a

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dream somebody said, "This life-long retreatant trülku was initially a monk of the Kagyü order ( dkar lugs), therefore when he performs the circle of feasts he remembers past lives and tells what happened (in the past)." The next day I dedicated (the merit) of  one feast gathering. I offered feast offerings and scarves of  five types of  fabric to the old lama from Gönnyin, Kunzang Onpo (kun bzang dbon po dgon nyin bla

rgan). I did that about two or three times and was also diligent at making pills used at feast gatherings ( tshogs ril). [He then recounts a dream about the power of his pills] ...I practiced for three years. Around age twenty -five Longsel left Degé and returned to his homeland. However he did not take up the householder's life and instead spent many years in retreat. During this time he meditated in huts and caves in Chölung Ritrö ( chos lung

ri khrod ), Kholri ( khol ri), Kamponé Cave ( kaM po gnas phug), Tromgyi Dzongnak (khrom gyi rdzong nag). Finally at age twenty-eight, approximately 1652, Longsel returned home to his parents. While back home, Longsel was confronted by many

tsam byung dus/ rmi lam zhig las/ mi zhig gis tshe mtshams sprul sku 'di/ dang po dkar lugs kyi ban+de zhig yin pas tshogs 'khor bskor bas skye ba dran pa dang 'di ltar byung ba yin zhes rmis pas/ phyir nyin tshogs gcig bsngos pas/ tshogs phud dang kha btags ras yug le tshan lnga tsam kun bzang dbon po dgon nyin bla rgan drung du phul btang / de 'dra ba lan gnyis gsum tsam 'bul slar bum sgrub sogs kyis dus tshogs ril la brtson pa'o/ de yang chu sprel bcu bzhi'i nub rmi lam zhig la/ tshogs sha chen po mi 'dug/ tshogs ril ni  byin gyis brlabs te sangs rgyas kyi zhing khams mtha' yas pa'i drung du 'bul ba ni/ sngon rje lo ral pa gnam mtsho ngos su sku mtshams mdzad dus sgrub rgyag chad skabs nyung ngur bsags pa'ang za thon/ grwa pa yang 'chi la thugs skabs spro ba rdobs dang tshogs 'khor cig e snang gsungs/ tshogs mthe'u chung tshigs tsam ba'i dngos grub kyi mtsho rlabs kyi sha ba'i ro gcig 'bab 'phangs/ de lo gsum gyi sgrub rgyag byung gsung / zhes pa zhes pa 'di yang kaH thog rdo rje'i gdan gyi dben gnas su spar du bsgrub pa'o.

ḍākin ī s in visionary encounters who made pronouncements about his destiny to

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reveal treasures. He initially paid them no mind but eventually heeded their call. Theḍākin ī s ordered Longsel to train under Dündül Dorjé and he complied by traveling to Powo to seek out this master. Dündül gave Longsel many initiations and instructions and provided further confirmation of  his status as a treasure revealer. After a couple of  years of  tutelage under him, 102 Dündül ordered Longsel to return home to practice in a retreat called the Khalong Ritrö (mkha' klong ri khrod ). Longsel's treasure career began in the fire monkey year of 1656 when he was thirty-two years old. That year a dark red yogi draped in jewelry made of bones came in the flesh and handed him the registry ( kha byang) for a cycle of  treasures. This intense mystical event inspired him to believe firmly that he was an emanation of  Guru Rinpoche and fated to reveal treasures. It was, of  course, the monkey year, which is Guru Rinpoc he's birth year. Longsel practiced the "treasure accomplishment" ( gter sgrub) rites for the rest of  that year and all of  the next (monkey and bird years). The following year (1658, sa khyi) Longsel excavated his first treasures at Khé Mingyur Dorjédrak ( khe mi 'gyur rdo rje brag ). In all, Longsel drew treasures from sixteen "treasuries." 103 Most of  his treasure sites were in the Litang and Batang areas. 104 Longsel married a woman from a village close to Pung

102

Kenpo Jamyang,  Brief History of Katok, 88, states that Longsel stayed with Dündul for three years. The much earlier  Guru Trashi's History clearly says that they Longsel left after a short period of time ( mi ring  bar ). 103 104

Ngawang Lodrö, Guru Trashi's History , 572: gter kha chen po bcu drug gter nas bzhes.

Longsel Nyingpo's Collected Treasures is organized around eight major cycles ( skor tsho ) of treasures and miscellanea, and three regular cycles ( skor ) or treasures. The six major cycles of treasures were

Mountain of  the East ( shar phyogs spung ri) and they had one son and one

60

daughter. The son was named Sönam Deutsen ( bsod nams lde'u btsan; born in the early 1670s) and said to be the immediate rebirth of Dündül Dorjé (d. 1672). Longsel Nyingpo subsequently took another two women to be his consorts. Longsel's home base during these years of  intensive treasure revelation and dissemination was Khölri Sangngakling ( khol ri gsang temple, in present-day Napo (sna po) Township, Litang County. 105 Longsel renovated the original temple built by Brutsa Gangpa Tsondru Zangpo (' bru tsha sgangs pa brtson 'grus bzang po; fl. 1314th cent. ). The most notable new structure he built was the Rindzin Lhakhang ( rig

'dzin lha khang), also known as Khandro Bumdzong ( mkha' 'gro 'bum rdzong). The murals in the main chapel and top story ( dbu thog) were based on visions Longsel experienced and later described in the  Jewel Rosary of Pure Visions (dag snang nor 

excavated in, respectively: khe mi 'gyur rdo rje'i phug, khe nang 'od gsal 'ja' lus phug, bde chen pad+ma brag dkar, gnam chen brag dkar zla gam dbang gi dkyil 'khor, khe nang 'od gsal 'ja' lus phug, and sna brag  dkar khams kyi seng+ge gnam rdzong . All of these are in Litang and Batang. 105

See Jamyang Lodrö Gyatso ('jam dbyangs blo gros rgya mtsho; d.u.),  Pilgrimage Guide to Khölri Sangngakling  (khol ri gsang sngags chos gling gi gnas yig ), 350 – a detailed pilgrimage guide and history of Kholri – in Karma Gyeltsen, Compilation of Pilgrimage Guides to Kham . The 13-14 th century Katok abbot Brutsa Gangpa Tsondru Zangpo (' bru tsha sgangs pa brtson 'grus bzang   po) is credited with opening up the "hidden valley" of Kolri and establishing a small temple there. Later a lama named Janchub Gyaltsen developed the site further. He was born in Longsel's same region of Trapa. The similarities shared by their life stories continues. Jangchub Gyaltsen also stayed at Kalong Dechen Retreat, where he met real ḍākin ī s and discovered treasures. The history does not record to what extent Janchub Gyaltsen built up Kolri. One or two liturgies he wrote for use at the temple are still extant, though. Longsel reworked one of them and it is included in his Collected Treasures (gsung thor bu las lha mo'i gsol  mchod nyung ngur bsdus pa , vol. 5, pp. 537-540). A few generations later (Jangchub Gyaltsen's exact dates are unknown) Longsel Nyingpo was given the temple and renovated it.

bu'i phreng ba). After Longsel's departure to Katok, the descendants of  Dündül

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Dorjé's son Norbu Yongdrak administered Kolri Retreat.106 Longsel's homeland Litang had long known Mongolian civil and military officials, traders, and chieftains. As mentioned earlier in this chapter, during the Yuan dynasty Mongolians overran Litang with trading stations and garrisons. During the middle of the seventeenth century it appears that Oirat Mongols had a presence in Litang, and Kham more generally. The Oirats were descendants of  men who "held senior office in the Mongol empire but were not themselves recognized descendants of Chinggis Khan," and emerged as a major power in the fifteenth century.107 Longsel attracted the patronage of  leading Oirat chiefs of  the Right Banner or Barungar. 108 The first of Longsel's Mongol patrons was Kokonor chief Chönyid Rangdrol ( mtsho

kha dpon chos nyid rang grol). He was apparently a ranking leader of an Oirat tribe in the vicinity of Lake Kokonor, which was home to both Tibetans and Mongolians. Chönyid Rangdröl was an enthusiastic student of  Longsel and is listed as the requestor of  a treasure in Longsel's Fierce Guru cycle.

106

109

The treasures were

Jamyang Lodrö Gyatso, Pilgrimage Guide to Khölri Sangngakling, 350.

107

Sneath, The Headless State , 33. I thank Gray Tuttle and Nicolas Sihlé who, independently of one another, referred me to this book. 108

Ricard, The Life of Shabkar, 565; "The Mongolian nation was divided into a series of principalities or  "banners" (Tib. dpon khag , Mong. khoshun). Each was ruled by a Jasag ( ja sag , pronounced dzasa by Tibetans), who could belong to any of the various ranks of the Mongolian nobility, from that of  Chingwang, king or prince of the first order, to that of  Gung or duke." 109

The name of the text is  sbas don mngon rtogs yid bzhin snying po and it is found in vol. 6, pp. 605-624 of the Collected Treasures.

discovered in Litang, though, so it is unclear whether they met in Kham or the

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Kokonor region. Longsel's most important Mongol student and patron was a the reigning head of the Right Banner, named Khandro Lozang Tenkyong ( mkha 'gro blo bzang bstan

skyong). Drawing on the  History of Amdo (mdo smad chos 'byung) and the late twentieth century Amdo scholar Mugé Samten ( dmu dge bsam gtan, 1914 -1993), Ricard gives the following profile of Khandro,110 Gushri Khan's fifth son, Tsering Elduchi (tse ring el du chi), ruled over a vast territory: the whole of  Choneh ( co ne), Upper and Lower Rekong ( reb kong stod smad ), Ngawa ( rnga ba), and Rado ( rwa mdo). Tsering Elduchi's eldest son, Khandro Lobzang Tenkyong, conquered the entire Six Ranges of Kham ( mdo khams sgang drug) and adjacent regions up to Dartsedo ( dar rtse mdo, Tachienlu or Kangding) in the east. He eventually settled in the Dzachuka area ( rdza chu kha) and adopted the Nyingma tradition of  Tibetan Buddhism. Other chieftains were displeased by this and had him assassinated. At some point Khandro invited Longsel to "Mongolian lands" (sog yul) and he went. Considering Ricard's account perhaps the Mongolian area visited by Longsel was actually the Oirat base in Dzachukha, Kham, and not Mongolia as commonly understood. Guru Trashi says Kandro tested the level of  Longsel's spiritual

110

Ricard, The Life of Shabkar , p. 565.

cultivation ( nyams tshad ) and was very impressed with his abilities.

111

Longsel

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deployed his magic for the benefit of  Kandro's governance and in return the king then invested Longsel with the title of  dishi (Tib. ti shri), a Yuan-era title that means preceptor of the of  the imperial family. Khandro appears several times in Longsel's Collected Treasures. Many of the of  the mentions appear in colophons in his  Miscellaneous Writings (gsung thor bu), collected into a four -hundred-and-sixty-folia side title in volume eleven. For instance, there is a short invocation to protectors ('phrin bcol) whose colophon states, "This composition was written on a ceremonial scarf  ( mjal dar ) by Vid yādhara Longsel Nyingpo when he was departing for Mongolia and later copied off  the side of the of  the scarf." 112 Another text was written in Mongolia. The colophon reads, "When king Khandro was honoring (Longsel Nyingpo) during (the latter's) stay in Mongolia (sog po'i nang du) and his defilements became inflamed, Longsel Nyingpo composed this supplication to the lama, who is the supreme of  all vanquishers of  interferences."113 Late in life Longsel was invited to Degé and then given control of  Katok by Dege's king. Guru Trashi, who has a Nyingma bias, says that the new king of  Degé Sangye Tenpa was very regretful of  his uncle's mistreatment of  Dündül and wanted

111

Ngawang Lodrö, Guru Trashi's History, 573.

112

Longsel Nyingpo, Miscellaneous Writings, 77: rig 'dzin klong gsal snying po sog yul du byon khar   phyar dar la phyag bris mdzad pa de phyis phyar dar logs las shal bshus bs hus pa'o. 113

Ibid. The prayer itself is just one stanza in length and names Dündul Dorje as the lama to whom the supplication is directed.

to atone for this by forming a good relationship with his student Longsel Nyingpo.

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Guru Trashi reports that initially Longsel would not go to see the king of  Degé in person, sending a representative instead. 114 The king of  Degé  – and  –  and by necessity the court and local Sakya lamas  – were  –  were very respectful and this convinced Longsel's emissary that Degé genuinely wanted to support Longsel. Longsel then quickly traveled to Degé and served the king and court as a chaplain. Guru Trashi even says that he was made a dishi, the same title bestowed on him by Khandro.115 The historical record of  Longsel's relations with the Degé c ourt is fragmentary and lacks many examples of  Longsel bolstering the statecraft of  the burgeoning kingdom. One of  the few historical datum that attest to this is found in the  Royal Genealogies of Degé in a passage that recounts many of  the important blessings bestowed by past lamas upon the land and royal family. Longsel figures prominently in the passage. The text says that he is responsible for the royal seal of  Degé, which he discovered as a treasure. The passage reads,116 Once when Jatsön Nyingpo [Dündül Dorjé's lama] was conducting a communal feast for lama and disciples he (fashioned) out of dough of  dough the 114

Ngawang Lodrö, Guru Trashi's History, 752. Longsel sent Trapa Tertön Jangchup Gyeltsen ( dpra pa  gter ston byang chub rgyal mtshan ), who because of his name appears to be from the same homeland as Longsel. 115

In all my readings of literature about Degé I don't recall ever seeing another instance of the royal court giving another lama this title. Thus I suspect that Guru Trashi is exaggerating this. In the eighteenth century Degé began using the title "chief lama" ( dbu bla) for its highest-ranking chaplains.

116

Kolmaš, A Genealogy of the Kings of Derge, 91; 'ja tshon snying pos bla slob tshogs 'kkhor skabs/ zan las che mchog pad+ma thod phreng gi/ phyag rtags sdigs gzugs bcos nas khyed rang gi/ brgyud pas 'di 'dra'i  phyag rtags 'chang na dge/ gsungs bzhin phyis si pad+ma'i lung 'dzin pa/ 'khrul med gter chen klong kl ong gsal gsa l snying po yis/ sdig tham gter blangs sde dger phul mdzad pas/ srid dang chos kyi dge legs 'phel brtan du/ gyur nas da lta'ang de rgyun gnas 'di'o. Cf. Kalden Tsering, History of the Gönchen Monastery of Degé, 23.

scorpion insignia

117

of  Chemchok Padma Thötréng and said, ‘I

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suggest that your family line carry an insignia like this.' Following that the inerrant great

treasure revealer who was prophesied by

Padma(sambhava), Longsel Nyingpo, extracted as treasure a scorpion seal and presented it to the Degé royal family. Owing to this the auspiciousness of  (the kingdom's) politics and religion flourished and were constant. To this day (1828) the family line abides. This passage suggests Longsel impressed the royal family with his contributions to the political culture of  their royal court and that subsequent generations of  Degé historians continued to see him as a notable figure in the early formation of the of  the kingdom. The exact year of  Longsel Nyingpo's invitation to Degé are not recorded but the reign of his of  his host, king Sangyé Tenpa (sangs rgyas bstan pa), spanned the 1660s, 70s, and 80s. His reign was characterized by manifest ecumenicalism and the growth of new of  new monasteries. Nevertheless this period also knew much strife, especially in the south, where Katok is located. Sangye Tenpa's involvement with Longsel must be seen in this context. In order to set the stage for an i nvestigation of  the king's working relationship with Longsel, I will explain the circumstances of  the founding of another of  another Nyingma monastery along the southern frontier of  the ever -expand -expanding ing

117

Cf, Heller, "Notes On The Symbol Of The Scorpion In Tibet."

kingdom and which Sangyé Tenpa had a decisive role in founding; namely, Pelyül

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Monastery (dpal yul dgon). Pelyül Monastery is south of Katok of  Katok and lies along the Ngul River (dngul chu), very close to its outlet into the Dri River ( ‘bri chu). A late twentieth-century history of Pelyül of  Pelyül Monastery gives an account of  the how t he region of  Pelyül was incorporated into the Degé kingdom and how many monasteries in the area were impacted during the transition to Degé rule. The published English translation of this of  this work reads,118 …Lhachen [sic] Jampa Phuntsog, through the strength of  his karma, merit, and power, became the first dharma king of  Dege. Prior to his enthronement, the territory of Palyul of  Palyul was ruled by the Lithang Tongra Depa, Tsamdo was ruled by Goshi Ponchung and Barong was was ruled by Bagthur Khapa. 119 These three rulers surrendered to the new king of  Dege and their territories came under King Lhachen Jampa Phuntsog's rule. A few additional territories were overcome forcefully, during which time many monasteries in the lower region of  Kham were disrupted and completely destr oyed... In accordance with the

118

Jampel Zangpo, The Astonishing Succession of Throne Holders of The Victorious and Powerful Palyul Tradition (rgyal dbang dpal yul ba'i gdan rabs ngo mshar 'chi med yongs 'du'i ljon pa'i phreng ba), 59.

119

Pelyül, Tsamdo, and Barong are all very close together and fall within the boundaries of present-day Pelyul County.

predictions of  many holy lamas, King Lhachen Jampa Phuntsog

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120

and Trichen Sangye Tanpa together built a new monastery and named it Palyul Namgyal Changchub Choling [ dpal yul rnam rgyal byang

chub chos gling]" The violence and destruction touched upon in the above excerpt likely refers to a major insurrection that occurred between the surrender of  Pelyül and her neighbors to king Jampa Phuntsok and Sangye Tenpa's founding of Katok. of  Katok. About the insurrection the  Royal Genealogy of Degé  says, "The golden wheel of forceful of  forceful action utterly abolished the cruel behavior of  the barbaric people of  the lower territories such as Garjé (a baleful community) and Pelyül, and once again intern them within the vajra -enclosure of  the law."

121

Pelyül

Monastery was founded after this

crackdown and eventually became one of  the chief  monasteries of  Degé and to this day is a major center of Nyingma of  Nyingma activity.122 Kunzang Sherab (kun bzang shes rab), a student of  Mingyur Dorjé and Karma Chakmé, was the first he ad lama of  the

120

I believe that this excerpt is incorrect about Jampa Püntsok being one of the founders of Pelyul. Much older sources such as Guru Trashi's History do not say that Jampa Püntsok was involved in the founding of  the monastery. Jampa Püntsok had probably already died by this time.

121

Kolmaš, A Royal Genealogy of the Kings of Derge, 101: las shugs gser gyi 'khor los sa smad kyi/ sga (mi bsrun pa'i sde) dpal la sogs dmu rgod 'gro ba rnams/ brlang spyod rmeg med bcil nas slar yang ni/ bka' khrims rdo rje'i ra bar 'da' med bcug.

122

Pelyul Monastery is one of the five monasteries in Degé that was assigned to (dbu bla) to the kingdom and is counted as one of the six mother monasteries  Nyingma sect. Currently the monastery has several effective lamas who are fundraisers. They have built many new temples and monastic academies at monasteries.

provide court chaplains ( ma dgon drug ) of the excellent teachers and Pelyul and its branch

123

Pelyül.

As a monastery founded by the royal court in a restive region, it is

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reasonable to assume that the royal court relied upon the monastery to use its moral suasion to accept Degé's rule. Katok also falls within this territory of  southern Degé and is part of  presentday Pelyül county. Knowing that in the latter half of the seventeenth century several communities in the Pelyül area were rebellious and that the kingdom was sometimes directly involved in religious affairs, one may ask if  t he royal court inserted itself  into the economics and administration of  Katok monastery at this time? The answer is a resounding yes. Just as the king of Degé chose the leader of Pelyül Monastery, he also appointed a new leader for Katok: treasure revealer Longsel Nyingpo. The Collected Letters (chab shog khag) of  Katok Rindzin Tsewang Norbu (kaH thog rig 'dzin tshe dbang nor bu ; 1698-1755) provide a suggestive glimpse into the economic context of  Longsel's move to Katok. In a letter addressed to the Seventh Dalai Lama Kelsang Gyatso ( skal bzang rgya mtsho; 1708-1757) and dated 1752, Tsewang Norbu gives the Tibetan leader a short history lesson on Katok monastery.124 Tsewang Norbu says the Drungpa lamas let Katok's cultural integrity (lar rgya) decline and had also amassed much land for themselves. 125 This attracted 123

See Zangpo,  A Garland of Immortal Wish-Fulfilling Trees, ch.5, for a traditional account of his life in English. 124 125

Tsewang Norbu is the primary subject of Chapter Two. His life and times are explored in detail therein.

Tsewang Norbu, Collected Letters, 762. In the fifteenth century a new line of leaders gained control over the administration of the monastery. They were called the Drung line ( drung rabs), with "drung" being an honorific title of authority. A student of the famed Ratna Lingpa (1403-1479) returned to Katok to set up a hereditary line of uncle and nephews who became the celibate heads of the monastery, with succession running through the progeny of the leader's brother(s). This line ran through thirteen generations, which were called the "thirteen generations of the Drung line" (drung rabs bcu gsum).

the attention of  Degé, who took possession or control of  ( bdag gir byas) the

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monastery.126 The letter states that after the expropriation "Degé (king) Sangyé Tenpa gave the entire monastery to treasure revealer Longsel Nyingpo and the Drungpa's estate was divided in two. Half  was given to Longsel Nyingpo and half  was applied towards Degé's gathering of the annual taxes."127 According to the sequence of events in this letter, first Degé seized Katok and the Drungpa estate, and then appointed Longsel as the new leader of the monastery and shared the estate with him. Here we see Degé exercising dominance over the monastery's administration and finances, which bears comparisons with its founding of Pelyül Monastery. From this point on in Katok's history Degé remained influential at the monastery; sometimes lavishing donations on the monastery and sometimes even calling up militias of  monks from Katok to fight in military campaigns against neighboring communities!128 Katok monastery was in disrepair when Longsel Nyingpo first arrived. Guru Trashi says that when Longsel arrived at Katok it had no head resident lama and had fallen into "a little" disrepair.129 The statement about Katok not having a head lama at the time is likely a nod to the fact that the Degé court had disempowered the Drung lamas by confiscating their estate. The recent official history of  the monastery 126

Ibid.

127

Ibid., gter ston klong gsal snying po la sde dge sangs rgyas bstan pas dgon pa tshang 'gril phul zhing drung pa'i chos gzhis gnyis su bsgom te phyed gter ston la phul/ phyed sde dge'i lo skor 'du ba'i thes su sbyar. 128 129

Getsé Mahā paṇḍita, Autobiography, 314.4.

Ngawang Lodrö, Guru Trashi's History, 753: 'di skabs kaH thog tu gdan sa ba bla ma gzhan med pa dang cung zad nyams dma' ba'i skabs su 'chis kyang.

composed by the late abbot Jamyang Gyeltsen says, "He repaired the degradations

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of the important sites and the ruination of  the temple, the building together with its icons. With limitless compassion he [Longsel] tamed all the pernicious behavior [of  local agents such as] the degredation of the fertility of the land when it was seized by the evil demons."130 Longsel repaired the exterior and interior of  the assembly hall and constructed new statues. After settling at Katok Longsel Nyingpo formed good relations with other lamas patronized by Dege. For instance Longsel became very close with Pema Rindzin, the founder of  Dzokchen monastery. When Pema Rindzin was making the rounds on his state -sponsored tour of  monasteries in Degé, he went to Katok. Longsel welcomed him and they became very close. Pema Rindzin stayed at Katok for a month and during this time the two lamas exchanged many teachings with each other.131 In Longsel's last will and testament he orders his son Sönam Deutsen to go to Dzokchen to complete his training at the feet of Pema Rindzin.132 Longsel Nyingpo's Kama-Inspired Cycle of Treasures

In one respect Longsel Nyingpo's position at Katok was secure because the king of  Degé had placed him at the helm of  the monastery. Yet perhaps more was required for Longsel's successful integration at the monastery than merely being 130

Jamyang Gyeltsen, Brief History of Katok, 89: sa gnad nyams pa dang gtsug lag khang rten dang brten  par bcas zhig ral song ba rnams nyams gso dang/ 'dre ngan gyis yul bzung nas bcud nyams pa ma rungs pa'i  bya spyod mtha' dag tshad med pa'i thugs rjes 'dul bar dzad. 131

Ngawang Lodrö, Guru Trashi's History, 754.

132

Ibid.

given a mandate from Degé. A lthough Degé had dismantled the Drungpa

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administration of  the monastery by confiscating their lands and replacing the Drungpa lamas with Longsel, when Longsel arrived at Katok it was not a clean slate. As seen in the accounts of  Dündül Dorjé and Longsel's training under Katok lamas, Katok still had a relatively active training program. This raises the question, Did Longsel try to harmonize his treasures with the historical Katok heritage in any discernible way? The answer is yes. The claim of  this section i s that Longsel employed a twofold strategy to better integrate himself into the Katok institution and tradition, which involved 1) repackaging himself  as an inheritor of  the Kama teachings and 2) creating a suite of  Kama treasures and treatises. This secti on examines the one cycle of  treasures that Longsel Nyingpo composed at Katok to uncover rhetorical moves that indicate he attempted to interface with Katok's Kama heritage. This following analysis can be seen more broadly as a contribution to the study of the development of particular treasure traditions in their unique institutional settings. Prior to arriving at Katok Longsel had already discovered over one dozen cycles of  treasures. The meditational and protective deities featured in his different treasure cycles covered the usual pantheon of  most treasure cycles, including the Fierce Guru ( gu ru drag po), The Great Compassionate One, Eight Dispensations (bka' brgyad ), ḍākin ī s, long life deities, and others. During his early treasure career Longsel Nyingpo's audience had been primarily non -monastic and non -scholastic. His biographical record, while being fragmentary, says that his home base was a

small temple, he spent time at various retreats, and interacted with Mongolian

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princes. None of  the sources mention him working at an institution comparable to Katok; a monastery with a long history of  monasticism and devotion to the Kama. Thus it is no accident that the single cycle of treasures he discovered at Katok  –  for  Katok  – was about the Secret Nucleus, the iconic Mah āyoga suite of  tantras of  the Nyingma Kama. Longsel's Katok cycle of  treasures is called the Cycle of  the Distilled Secret of  the Magical Net ( sgyu 'phrul gsang ba yang khol gyi skor ).133 None of Longsel's earlier treasures overtly reference the Kama in their titles. Many elements of the first half of Longsel's strategy to integrate his treasures at Katok are evident in a dated colophon to one of his Secret Nucleus compositions, the "Detailed Instructions on the Stages of  the Path" ( lam rim pra khrid ). The text reads, 134 The (preceding) completes the teaching on the path and fruit – together with the standards for evaluating the signs (of  accomplishment)  – of  the textual tradition of  the great Magical Net. At dawn on the new years day of  the wood-ox year (1685) when I was staying in Dam(pa Deshek's) cave I encountered around one hundred meaningful dohas  –  133 134

This cycle is found in volume 10 of Longsel Nyingpo's Collected Treasures in 12 volumes.

Longsel Nyingpo, Detailed Instructions on the Stages of the Path (sgyu 'phrul drwa ba chen po'i bskyed rdzogs zung 'jug gi khog dbub lam rim pra khrid), 199-202; 'di dag gis sgyu 'phrul drwa ba chen po'i gzhung gi lam 'bras bur tags tshad dang bcas pa bstan zin to/ 'di yang shing glang lo gsar dus skabs su dam  phug tu 'dug skabs tho rangs shig rgya gar mkhas pa nyer gcig gi don do ha rdo rje'i glu lta bu brgya tsam mjal ba dang/ phyir nyin gyi tho rangs gnyis brgya tsam mjal ba bzo med skabs/ shar phyogs ngos nam mkha' na dkyil 'khor brgya tsam gyi mdangs bdag la zug pa bzo med skabs/ 'jig rten skyong bas ci ltar na  ba'i sman gang yin pa ni/ sgyu 'phrul brgyad cu pa las yod zhes bya bas rgyud la rtogs pa zla ba bzhi tsam la nyams dang rmi lam thams cad du bar ma chad pa rgyud don rtogs pa byung bas bris pa'o/ …gnas 'dir bstan  pa'i byi dor gsal phyir du/ kaH thog rdo rje'i gdan du legs par byas.

which were like adamantine songs  – of  twenty-one Indian scholars.

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At dawn the next day I encountered about two hundred (doha), while in an unfabricated state ( bzo med skabs). I was penetrated by the radiance of hundreds of ma ṇḍalas in the eastern part of the sky, while in an unfabricated state. I heard it said, "The Eighty-Chapter Magical Net is the medicine that the world guardians (use to heal) everyone that ails." For about 4 months I continuously had realizations of  the meaning of the tantra in all of my meditative experiences and dreams, and then composed (this work). ...In order to clean up ( byi dor ) the teachings here in this holy place ( gnas) I composed this at Katok, the vajrāsana. This colophon addresses Katok and its traditions in several ways. For one the revelation that inspired the composition of  this text is literally grounded at Katok, taking place in Dampa's cave. This cave has a long history in the mythic imagination of Katok as the meditation cave of the founder of the monastery. Longsel's use of the cave for his meditations (at least in the narrative, if  not in real life) suggests that he was trying to accrue to himself  the spiritual pedigree and power associated with the cave. He could have set such a major visionary experience in a new sacred site at Katok that he founded, but instead chose to align himself  with this sign of  the old Katok and its earlier traditions. This act also has an inverse function. By doing retreats in the cave and writing treatises in it he is also resacralizing the cave with his charisma.

A similar process is at work in Longsel's appropriation of  the Secret

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Nucleus tantras. Longsel portrays himself  as being informed directly by Indian panditas about the great pancea of  the Secret Nucleus in Eighty Chapters, thereby showing that he shares the older Katok tradition's devotion to the Secret Nucleus, and by extension to the entire Kama.Yet he also makes these teachings his own, to some degree, through claiming continuous "realizations of  the meaning of  the tantra" for four months. After asserting that he is a master of  the Secret Nucleus, Longsel then speaks with authority in saying that his composition is intended to purify the teachings at Katok. In this colophon, the longest and most de tailed of  any in his Secret Nucleus cycle, Longsel deftly represents himself as having inherited the Kama (with the Secret Nucleus as a representative of the Kama) and then having mastered it to such a degree that he is now in a position to reform the Dharma training at Katok. Longsel's self-representation as an inheritor and master of the Secret Nucleus tantras actually begins earlier in this same text, the  Detailed Instructions on the

Stages of the Path. This long work has three sections, the first of  which is called, "The introductory narrative meant to generate enthusiasm which covers the historical periods (of the Teachings)" ( spro ba bskyed pa gleng gzhi'i lo rgyus kyi rim pa ).135 In

135

The second section is entitled "The mode of engagement by means of a method endowed with the seven characteristics" (mtshan nyid bdun dang ldan pa'i sgo nas ji ltar 'jug pa'i tshul). The third section is entitled "A presentation of the ground, path, and fruition" ( gzhi lam 'bras bu'i rnam gzhag ). This last section is a substantial 120-folio long. It is a learned treatise almost indistinguishable from something written by a lama in the Katok abbatial lineage. The text has a very dense and complicated structure, with a new section heading to cover each of the hundreds of point of the treatise, and an equal number of quotes from s ūtras, śastras, and tantras. There is actually very little explanatory prose by Longsel (or his ghost writer). The vast majority of sub-sections, sub-sub-sections, and so on, consist of just a heading announcing the topic and a

75 this section Longsel gives the lineal histories for several different t eaching traditions, including the teaching lineages concerning the Kama teachings of  the Eighteen Great Tantras of  the Mah āyoga ( tan+tra chen po bco brgyad ). Longsel itemizes the lines of  teachers for three sub-lines in the transmission of  the Eighteen Great Tantras; namely, the lines of the tantras, the esoteric instructions ( man ngag), and the detailed instructions of  the M agical Illusion ( sgryu 'phrul pra khrid ).136 Longsel is at the head of  all three. In doing so Longsel is recreating his image as a master of these long human-to-human Kama lineages, as an inheritor of the teachings of figures such as Nubchen Sangye Yeshe ( gnubs chen sangs rgyas ye shes; ninth century), Longchenpa ( klong chen rab ‘byams pa; 1308-1364), Dampa Deshek, and other greats of  tantric exegesis in the Nyingma tradition. It is my contention that Longsel inscribed himself into these lineages in response to a perceived need on his part to assimilate some to the Katok traditions, but on his own terms. In the colophon excerpted above Longsel Nyingpo expresses concern for “cleaning up” the teachings ( bstan pa'i byi dor ) at Katok. This is relevant to the consideration of  how Longsel intended his Secret Nucleus treasures and writings to be used at Katok. Longsel's Secret Nucleus cycle appears to be a more or less cohesive set of  texts that would have a broad utility both in terms of  ritual practice, contemplation, and scholastic study of  the Kama. Perhaps part of  Longsel's strategy  pertinent cited quotation. He almost never explains a topic in his own words or amplifies an excerpt from scripture. 136

Ibid., 69.1-72.6. Interestingly, the lineage of lamas who have transmitted the tantras bypasses the Katok  lamas. The latter two lineages – those of the oral instructions and detailed instructions – pass through Dampa Deshek and later Katok figures.

to purify the dharma at Katok was to compose a suite of treasures and treatises on

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the Secret Nucleus that could become a new pillar of Katok liturgy, meditation, and tantric study. Below I will give brief  descriptions of  the texts in Longsel's Secret Nucleus cycle. The Secret Nucleus cycle appears in the tenth volume of  his Collected 

 Revelations and Writings, which also contains some miscellaneous texts that have not been neatly separ ated from the Secret Nucleus works. Longsel's Secret Nucleus works are composed of some revealed treasures and a few texts that he claims are his own compositions. The first text of  the cycle is the initiation liturgy, followed by a "stages of  meditation" text, and then the root tantra. 137 The root tantra is a treasure and begins with several letters of  ḍākin īscript and has treasure punctuation ( gter 

shad ) throughout. Perhaps as an allusion to the Magical Net in Eighty Chapters, the root tantra of his Secret Nucleus cycle contains eight chapters. The chapter titles are not lifted directly from the extant versions of  the tantra but each of  them has its equivalent in the canonical versions. The fourth and fifth texts in the Secret Nucleus volume appear to be a pair. The fourth text – the Detailed Instructions on the Stages of the Path introduced above  – co vers the framework ( khog dbub) of  the stages of  meditation on the Secret Nucleus. It is a very learned work in which a dense structure supports dozens of  pages of scriptural citations from the Collected Tantras of the Ancients. The fifth text 137

In order, these three texts are the gsang ba sgyu 'phrul gyi dbang chog myong grol ye shes chu rgyun (8 ff.), klong gsal sgyu 'phrul sgom rim (9 ff.), and sgyu 'phrul drwa ba gsang ba'i snying po gsang ba yang gsang gi rgyud (10 ff.).

is something of  an outline of  the preceding labyrinthine work.

138

The Secret

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Nucleus treasure cycle also contains a trilogy called the Aide -Memoire of  the Vehicles, Excellent Path of Clarification (theg pa'i gsal ‘debs gsal ba'i lam bzang).139 After a few miscellaneous titles the volume concludes with a ma ṇḍala liturgy for the Secret Nucleus.140 Longsel's attempts to compose a set of  treasures that would directly speak to Katok's longstanding commitments to the Kama suggest that during his stay he encountered pressure from some at Katok, or in the broader Nyingma community, to preserve to some degree what was unique about the monastery. If this is correct then the way Longsel found to do so was through the medium of  Treasures. He repackaged a single Kama teaching as a treasure, and in the process rebranded himself (partially) as a master of  the Secret Nucleus. For some reason, despite Longsel's stated intention to reform the teachings at Katok through his extensive revelations and writings on the Secret Nucleus, it is certain that the teachings did not become a central part of  the Katok tradition after Longsel's time. They may have been prominent in the immediate aftermath of Longsel's time at Katok but by the end

138

sgyu 'phrul gsang ba yang khol las: man ngag gsal ba'i spra khrid gnad kyis mdo chings: v. 10, 8 ff. (pp. 203-218) 139

The first of the three is a short four-folia root text that devotes a few lines to each of the nine vehicles and sub-vehicles. This root text is then expanded upon in the following two texts of the trilogy. The first of  these is fourteen-folia long and the second is forty-eight-folia long. Just like the Detailed Instructions on the Stages of the Path, these two commentaries brim with scriptural citations.The Tibetans names of the three texts in this trilolgy are: theg pa'i gsal 'debs gsal ba'i lam bzang , theg pa'i gsal 'debs gsal ba'i lam bzang  don gsal nor bu'i phreng ba bka' 'dus zab rgya rdo rje'i snying po , and theg pa'i gsal 'debs gsal ba'i lam bzang gi don gsal rin po che'i phreng ba. 140

rang byung gsang ba snying po'i dkyil 'khor: v. 10, 31 ff. (pp. 651-712)

of the eighteenth century they seem to be completely marginal to the Katok

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curricula. Rather, Longsel's earlier works became popular at Katok, not the treasures he composed at Katok itself. The three treasures of  Longsel's that became the most widely practiced and recited at Katok are the Fierce Guru Blazing Wisdom (bla ma

drag po ye shes rab 'bar ), Indestructible Essence of Clear Expanse (klong gsal rdo rje snying po), The Unexcelled Super-Secret Form of Great Compassionate One (thugs rje chen po yang gsang bla med ), and Gathering of All the Sugatas of the Eight  Pronouncements (bka' brgyad bde gshegs yongs 'dus ). Chapter Four examines in detail Getsé Mah āpaṇḍita's codification of  several of  Longsel's treasures, which Getsé makes central to the liturgical and contemplative program of the Katok of his time. The Administration of Katok by Longsel and His Descendants

Longsel's period at Katok represents a wa tershed moment in the history of  the administration of  the monastery. For one, Longsel's appointment at Katok by the king of Degé came at the expense of the Drungpa lamas, who had been in control of  Katok for many generations. Furthermore Longsel brought with him numerous family members who succeeded him after he passed. Longsel also began, perhaps unwittingly, another administrative trend at Katok that would later come to predominate at the monastery: the rule by reincarnated lamas. Below I will profile some of  the Longsel's relatives who ruled Katok in the first generations after Longsel's passing. These family member's of Longsel's shared power, though without

any clearly defined and sequential succession of power. The three most important

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figures who imm ediately succeeded Longsel are his younger brother, his nephew, and his son. Longsel's younger brother was named Trashi Özer ( bkra shis ‘od zer ) and he seems to have been Longsel's main administrative assistant at the monastery141. He stands out from among all the other relatives because he was a fully-ordained monk. For instance, Khenpo Jamyang's contemporary history lists him as the first successor to Longsel who served as abbot for many years. Trashi Ozer took full ordination under the eleventh Drungpa Ri nchen Bummé ( rin chen 'bum

me), and was also a disciple of  Dündül Dorjé. While at Katok he is said to have propagated Dündül Dorjé and Longsel Nyingpo's treasures. He died at age sixty three but the exact year of his death is unknown. Longsel's primary "treasure master" was his nephew Orgyen Lhündrup (dbon o rgyan lhun grub).142 As the treasure master he actively promoted Longsel's treasures. For instance he went to Lhasa to meet the Fifth Dalai Lama and gain his approval of the treasures. Dündül had early presented his works to the Great Fifth for his support but had no success. Longsel, who was obviously much more diplomatic than his teacher, might have learned a lesson from Dündül's problems and carefully avoided criticism about the Ganden Podrang in his treasures. The year of  Orgyan

141

Jamyang Gyeltsen, Brief History of Katok, 90-91.

142

Ibid., 91

Lhündrup's trip to Lhasa is not known but it is suggested in Khenpo Jamyang's

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 History that he went after Longsel's death in 1692.143 The third immediate successor to Longsel at Katok was his son, Sönam Deutsen.144 He was the reincarnation of  Dündül Dorjé and was born very soon after the latter's death in 1672. Sönam Deutsen trained under his father (who passed away when Sönam Deutsen son was twenty-years old) and other lamas such as Dzokchen Pema Rindzin. As mentioned earlier in this chapter, Longsel Nyingpo wrote in his will that Sönam Deutsen should go to Dzokchen Monastery to sit at the feet of Pema Rindzin and study Dzokchen. Sönam Deutsen also made a pilgrimage to Central Tibet to study with the new luminaries of  the Nyingma world, Terdak Lingpa ( gter 

bdag gling pa; 1646-1714) of  Mindröl Ling Monastery and Pema Trinlé ( pad+ma 'phrin las; 1641 -1717) of  Dorjé Drak Monastery. The great eighteenth -century translator, proponent of  classical learning, and Karma Kagyü hierarch Situ Penchen (sit u paN chen; 1700 -1774) recounts meeting Sönam Deutsen in 1711 when the former was twelve years old. 145 Situ says that Sönam Deutsen visited his area and gave an initiation to the gathered crowd. When Sönam Deutsen asked for a clay pot to use in the ceremony someone brought him a vase that was not clean. He became angry and threw the clay pot out the window and it landed on a pile of  rocks. If  an

143

If Orgyen Lhundrup did indeed travel to Lhasa after Longsel's death then it becomes impossible that he would have actually met the Fifth Dalai Lama, who died in 1682 but whose death was kept from the public until 1696. 144

Ibid., 91-92.

145

Situ Penchen, Autobiography and Diaries, 25.6.

unenlightened person had done such a thing the pot would have broken on impact.

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When the charismatic lama Sönam Deutsen threw the pot out of the window in a fit of so-called enlightened wrath the clay vessel landed without a scratch. Situ says that upon seeing this display of  Longsel's son's supernatural powers gained through tantric contemplation, he came to honor the lama. Thus we see that Sönam Deutsen was sufficiently charismatic to travel in the general Degé area and be accepted as a holy lama. Unfortunately he died young at the age of  forty-nine. Thus he may not have met his potential of  service to Kato k in this lifetime, but his reincarnation Drimé Zhingkyong Gompo (1724-1786) was a pivotal figure of the next generation. The next two chapters covers Drimé Zhingkyong in great detail. Other relatives of  Longsel also had an impact on Katok. His nephew Orgyan Namdröl ( o rgyan rnam grol) went to Central Tibet, perhaps with Sönam Deutsen, and studied with the head lamas of  Mindröl Ling and Dorjé Drak monasteries.146 There he learned the monastic performing arts, especially masked dance and choir. Khenpo Jamyang praises Orgyan Namdröl for having transmitted these arts back to Katok, where they are maintained to this day. Conclusion

This chapter analyzed a period in the history of  Katok that represents a striking break with the past and skillful approaches to the future. After its rise in the middle of  seventeenth century, the Degé royal court heavily patronized Nyingma 146

Jamyang Gyeltsen, History of Katok , 91.

lamas and monasteries in Dege. This was possible in part because seventeenth-

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century Kham was home to a number of prolific and influential Nyingma lamas such as Dündül Dorjé and his students. Degé integrated its support for the Nyingma tradition into its governance of  the polity through collaborating with its court lamas in the founding or revival of monasteries in strategic locations. Katok Monastery was particularly affected by the interventions of the Degé court. The new powers wanted Katok to thrive but it appears that they also wanted to have the upper hand in the region. Therefore they confiscated the monastery's landholdings and imposed their own lama at the head of the monastery. Then Degé imposed on the monastery a lay treasure revealer, representing a major departure from the preceding five hundred years of  rule by, ideally, monks who were proponents of the Kama. From this point on the monastery was in a partnership with Degé whereby the kingdom provided authorization to operate and some financial support, and the lamas of the monastery contributed to the ritual needs of the government. Longsel Nyingpo impacted the monastery through his intro duction of  new teachings and administrators. Certain of the treasures he introduced at the monastery took deep root and have remained a prominent part of  the contemplative and liturgical programs at Katok to this day. However the religious traditions at Katok were not completely passive in receiving the new material introduced by Longsel. Rather, Katok's long history exerted an effect on Longsel. After his arrival at the monastery he apparently felt compelled to "discover" a new cycle of  treasures that referenced the earlier Katok traditions based on the Kama. Furthermore Longsel

Nyingpo changed the administration at the monastery by placing his family

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members and students at the helm of  the monastery. Longsel's blood relations retained control of  the monast ery for several generations, after which the reincarnations of Longsel's children and students came to dominate. The dramatic changes in the local politics that accompanied the rise of  Degé could have been devastating for Katok Monastery. If the royal court had appointed a less diplomatic and creative treasure revealer to the see of Katok then the monastery might have collapsed and been overshadowed by Pelyül or Dzokchen. But later chapters of  this study show that while the changes brought to the monastery by Longsel were not entirely free of  controversy they did provide the basis for institutional stability and further innovation. Economically Longsel was able to work well with the new regime, and over a century and a half after his arrival in Degé he was immortalized in the 1828 Genealogy of the Kings of Degé  for having revealed the royal seal. The following chapter will chronicle a major pushback against the changes Longsel brought to Katok's religious praxis and administration. This pushback was spearheaded by Katok Rindzin Tsewang Norbu (1798-1755), who Longsel Nyingpo's son Sönam Deutsen recognized as the reincarnation of  one of  his father's students. Tsewang Norbu considered Katok's authentic tradition to consist of  scholastic study of the Kama, monasicism, and meritocratic succession, and he believed that during the Drung and Longsel periods this tradition had been lost. His strategy for reviving

84 the lost tradition was itself  very controversial and Katok's lamas and monks ultimately rejected it.

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Chapter Two: A Mid Eighteenth-Century Attempt to Reform Katok Monastery

This chapter seeks to answer the questions: How did the changes at Katok instituted by Longsel Nyingpo and his successors transpire at Katok in the decades after Longsel's death in 1692? Did any partisans of the older Kama traditions object to the changes that had occurred to the monastery’s religious programs and administration since the arrival of  Longsel? If  so how were their reactions expressed? What solutions were proposed and attempted? What were the outcomes? The historical record does in fact register one major pushback against the changes brought to Katok by Longsel Nyingpo

as well as the subsequent

custodianship of  the monastery by his son and nephews. Katok Rindzin Tsewang Norbu (kaH thog rig ‘dzin tshe dbang nor bu , 1698-1755), who came of  age in the early eighteenth century, yearned for Katok's earlier traditions and was not happy that Katok's Kama heritage had been eclipsed by the newly introduced treasure traditions. Furthermore, he was very concerned about what he perceived as the poor management of  the monastery by Longsel's descendants, which he saw as an inevitable result of  the ascendancy of  hereditary and reincarnate lamas in the monastery’s administration. In the early 1750s Tsewang Norbu orchestrated a brief  and failed opposition to the treasure -centric regime at Katok. This chapter begins

with an overview of  Tswewang Norbu's life and then analyzes in detail his

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dramatic campaign to install a new leader at Katok monastery. Katok Rindzin Tsewang Norbu

Tsewang Norbu (1698-1755) is one of  the greatest lamas of  the eighteenth century. He was the Seventh Dalai Lama's primary diplomat in the Himalayas, a power broker in the Karma Kagyü sect, reviver of dying teaching lineages, renovator of ancient Buddhist sites in Nepal and Tibet and renowned author.147 Tsewang Norbu is beloved by later historians for his excellent works on early Tibetan history and biographical writings about his own life and times. 148 His religious career began, however, as a reincarnate lama of  Katok monastery and was known throughout his life as the “Katok Rindzin” (the vidyadhara of Katok). Biographical Writings By and About Tsewang Norbu

The historical record for Tsewang Norbu is rich and detailed, albeit fragmented. He wrote several autobiographical accounts at different stages of his life but never a comprehensive life story. The first autobiography is called the Supreme

 Medication for the Fever  ([of Samsara] ri thang mtshams kyi sman mchog ) and was written in the fall of  1718 when the author was twenty -one years old. Its three 147

Traditional accounts of his life speak of four great deeds, which include one activity not mentioned in the preceding list. In addition to peacemaking, reviving fragile Jonang and Shangpa Kagyü lineages, and renovating ancient Buddhist monuments, they remember him for also eradicating a violent tradition in  Nepal in which women were buried alive ( gson dur ); Pema Wangchen Dorjé,  Brief Account of the Aut hor’s  Life (mdzad pa po'i lo rgyus mdor bsdu ), 13 and 16. 148

Richardson, "A Tibetan Antiquarian in the XVIIIth Century."

87 chapters cover Tsewang Norbu's past lives, the prophecies that confirm his present spiritual stature, his youth, and his works to benefit beings. The work is written in prose with fre quent insertion of  verse pieces written at different times during the author's life.149 In the 1720s Tsewang Norbu wrote four works redolent of the "secret autobiography" genre. They attest to his robust pursuit of  meditation in his mid-tolate twenties and early thirties. 150 In the spring of 1730, at age thirty-three, Tsewang Norbu wrote a medium length autobiography in lines of  seven -syllable metered verse.151 The terse style makes it difficult to identify many of  the proper nouns mentioned therein. The work does, though, bring the reader up to date on his travels and studies since his last "outer" autobiography (written in 1718). Tsewang Norbu did not compose another autobiography for another twenty years. In 1751, while engaged in peacemaking in Ladakh and elsewhere in the Himalayas, Tsewang Norbu wrote a final life story covering the years 1749 -1752.152 In addition to these life 149

The last event described in the work is his unsuccessful trip to meet the treasure revealer Rolpé Dorjé. Towards the end of this autobiography Tsewang Norbu analogizes his frustrated desire to meet the treasure revealer with the torment a person dying of thirst feels for water that is out of reach. This is a tragic ending  because unbeknownst to Tsewang Norbu this lama would die the following year before the former could meet him. 150

The four autobiographies about his esoteric experiences in the 1720s are: 1) snyigs dus ser gzugs snyom las mkhan gyur tshe dbang nor bu bdag nyid gangs ri'i ljongs kyi yul gru du mar rgyu tshul lam yig phyi nang gsang ba kho na nyid kyi glu dbyangs sna tshogs pad+ma'i phreng ba, 2) snyigs dus rnal 'byor gzugs 'dzin sprang ban tshe dbang nor bu bdag nyid phyogs kun rgyu ba'i rtogs brjod las 'phro skyo shas glu dbyangs sna tshogs pad+ma'i phreng ba (269-299), 3) rnal 'byor pa tshe dbang nor bu'i rgyun spyod dge ba'i lam rim glu ru blags pa thar pa'i 'jug ngog (300-306), and 4) nar ma'i rnal 'byor sdom tshig rdo rje'i phreng  ba zhes nyams len snying po'i rmi yig gong khug ma (307). Two versions of this last work are included in the LTWA mss. edition. The second of the two is one folio longer the earlier. 151

The full Tibetan title is ma bcos pa'i zog po sngags rig 'dzin pa tshe dbang nor bu rang nyid spyad rabs las chu klung las thigs pa tsam kyu ru lugs su smos pa snyim pa'i chu skyes, 234-255. 152

Or more properly, the earth snake year through the iron sheep year (sa sbrul nas lcags lug bar). rig  pa 'dzin pa tshe dbang nor bu'i rang nyid kyi spyad rabs las phyung ba lu ma nas snyim pa'i chu ltar sa bon tsam zhig smon pa 'di zhugs so/_sa sbrul nas lcags lug bar (531-559). For more on this period of Tsewang

stories, biographical details are found in the many letters Tsewang Norbu wrote to

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politicians and high lamas in the early 1750s. 153 Tsewang Norbu died in Western Tibet 1755. The preceding autobiographies are a treasure trove of  information about Tsewang Norbu’s activities and motivations. These life-writings are complemented by two excellent biographies written several decades after Tsewang Norbu's death. The author is Chökyi Wangchuk, the reincarnated lama (trülku; sprul sku) of Drakkar Taso Monastery ( brag dkar rta so sprul sku chos kyi dbang phyug ; 1775-1837) in Kyirong ( skyid grong). The chief  biography is a long and detailed work that spans 188 folia in cursive script. Its concise title is the  Amazing Sea of Enjoyment for the

Faithful (ngo mtshar dad pa'i rol mtsho ). Chökyi Wangchuk uses all of  the aforementioned autobiographical writings to great effect in this biography. When possible he gives lucid prose accounts of  periods of  Tsewang Norbu's life, and then follows these sections with extended excerpts from the much more opaque versified autobiographies. Towards the end of  the  Amazing Sea of Enjoyment for the Faithful Chökyi Wangchuk interpolates the entire text of  the autobiography that covers the years 1749-1751, without adding explanations or commentary of  any kind. Chökyi Wangchuk also incorporates oral traditions into Tsewang Norbu’s biography, stating that he only utilized those that he heard directly from great lamas.

154

Chökyi

 Norbu's life see Schwieger, “Kathog Rigzin Tsewang Norbu's diplomatic mission to Ladakh in the eighteenth century.” 153

His collected letters are found in the Collected Letters (chab shog khag ).

154

Chökyi Wangchuk, Amazing Sea of Enjoyment for the Faithful, 157.

Wangchuk points out broader trends in Tsewang Norbu's life and gives the reader

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the full names of the places, people, and texts that the subject often mentions only in very truncated forms in his autobiograp hical writings. The second biography of  Tsewang Norbu is a short prose work that is only six pages long in the new computer-font hardback edition.155 A full treatment of this biographical literature and Tsewang Norbu's life story  – not to mention his Buddhist and historical writings - is beyond the purview of this chapter. Tsewang Norbu's Involvement with Nyingma Teachings and Institutions

Katok Rindzin Tsewang Norbu was born in 1698 156 and came of age during a tumultuous period in Tibetan history  – the Dzungar destruction of  Nyingma centers in southern Tibet, political instability in Lhasa, Qing acquisition of  much of  Kham, and so on – and valiantly intervened on multiple political fronts to try to make peace and preserve endangered Buddhist traditions. His birthplace was Sangen County ( sa

ngan) in Degé, now in Gonjo County, the Tibetan Autonomous Region. 157 In his autobiographies Tsewang Norbu identifies his homeland as Jang Chushi ( ljang chu

gshis), the Jang River. The Jang is likely a tributary of the Drichu. A recent profile of  Tsewang Norbu calls his birthplace Rekhé Sangen (re khe sa ngan) and specifies that 155

Tsewang Norbu, Collected Writings, vol. 1, 159-164.

156

He was born very close in time to several lamas who would go on to be key figures in Degé's mideighteenth century golden age. Zhuchen Tsultrim Rinchen ( zhu chen tshul khrims rin chen ) – chief editor of  the Degé Tengyur – was born in 1696; Situ Penchen – chief editor of the Degé Kangyur – was born in 1700; Ngorchen Palden Chökyong ( ngor chen dpal ldan chos skyong ) – influential court chaplain – was  born in 1702. Tsewang Norbu was a close associate of Situ Penchen from the 1720s until the end of his life. 157

Jangsum (byang gsum 雄松) Township, Gonjo County, TAR.

it lies on the left side of  the Jang River.

158

In the colophons to his writings he

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frequently identifies himself as “the one from the south of Katok.” This is a reference to a prophesy from Jatson Nyingpo about his birth and great deeds. 159 Indeed Jangchushi is the southwest of Katok. Tsewang Norbu's family belonged to the Go clan, the same clan as the Degé royal family. Nevertheless they were not royalty and his family seems to have been quite poor. His autobiographies make a couple mentions of his family being destitute and needing to frequently move around in search of  sustenance. Once Tsewang Norbu was identified as a trülku, though, the family's finances improved. In his youth Tsewang Norbu was ensconced in communities that upheld the treasures traditions of  Dündül Dorje and Longsel Nyingpo. Treasure revealer, and close student of  Longsel, Pema Dechen Lingpa (1627 -1713) identified Tsewang Norbu as a trülku at age seven, and remained a huge influence on him throughout his life.160 At age thirteen (1710) Tsewang Norbu reunited with Pema Dechen Lingpa

158

Pema Wangchen Dorjé,  Brief Account of the Author’s Life , 13. This area also has two other names, the first of which is the Riwo Trazang of Kham. This is a reference to Riwo Trazang in western Tibet, the site where Rindzin Gökyi Dentruchen ( rgod kyi ldem 'phru can ; 1337-1409) – originator of the Dorjé Drak  treasures – discovered the keys to his three sets of treasures. Its second name is Tsenri Dorjédrak (also known as Tsengöd Ritra; btsan rgod ri bkra ), a further reference to Dorjédrak. Nevertheless during Tsewang Norbu's time the area was inhabited by many treasure revealers that do not seem to be connected to Dorjédrak Monastery and its treasures. Rather, many lamas affiliated with Katok treasures lived in the area during Tsewang Norbu's childhood. 159

Tsewang Norbu references this prophecy in many colophons. The full text of the original prophesy is given in Ibid., 13-14. 160

A concise story of Pema Dechen Lingpa's life is found in Kongtrül Yonten Gyatso,  Lives of the Hundred  Treasure-finders , 619.1-622.3 Pema Dechen Lingpa was born in 1663 ( chu yos) in Amdo. His homeland is named Gongti ( gong ti ), and lies between Ser(ta?) and Do(drupchen?) in Amdo ( mdo smad gser rdo gnyis kyi mtshams). At age twenty Pema Dechen Lingpa went to central Tibet on pilgrimage. At age twenty-one  – presumably back in Amdo – he met the Serpa lama Yeshé Gyaltsen ( gser pa bla ma ye shes rgyal  mtshan). This lama taught him advanced tantric yogas, which he then mastered during seven years of 

and received his Dzokchen teachings. He also met and became a student of 

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Kelzang Orgyen Tenzin (skal bzang o rgyan bstan 'dzin), a nephew of his "previous incarnation," the Tak lama Pema Norbu. The next year Tsewang Norbu also met Longsel Nyingpo’s son Sönam Deutsen for the first time. Tsewang Norbu met Pema Dechen Lingpa and Kelzang Orgyen Tenzin again in his fifteenth year. The following year (1713) Pema Dechen Lingpa died. Tsewang Norbu remained committed to his root lama's treasure cycles and would later give their initiations throughout the Tibetan cultural world. In his late teens Tsewang Norbu also experimented with revealing his own treasures. However, i n the autobiography about his youth  – the Supreme Medication for the Fever   – he expresses an initial ambivalence about his treasure revelation abilities. At one point

intensive practice. These efforts culminated in a transformative event during Pema Dechen Lingpa’s twenty-fifth year in which he received a prophecy and registry for a cycle of treasures. Following the dictates of those mystical documents he secretly traveled to Gyalrong ( rgyal mo shing gi rong ), in the far  east of Kham. From a boulder on which gathered 100,000 ḍākiṇī s in the middle of the great holy place Mudo ( gnas chen dmu rdo mkha' 'gro 'bum 'dus kyi pha waM ) in Gyalrong Pema Dechen Lingpa extracted his most well-known treasure cycle – the Longsel Khandro Nyingtik ( klong gsal mkha' 'gro snying thig ). At age twenty-seven (about 1669) he went to Katok and met with Longsel Nyingpo. They formed a very close relationship and Longsel appointed Pema Dechen Lingpa one of his "regents" ( rgyal tshab). Among the other teachers Pema Dechen Lingpa trained under is the Tak lama Pema Norbu, also a student of Longsel  Nyingpo. Pema Dechen Lingpa recognized the young Tsewang Norbu to be the reincarnation of the Tak  lama Pema Norbu. Three years later, when Pema Dechen Lingpa was thirty years old he met another great treasure revealer based in Kham, Tagsham Nüden Dorjé ( stag sham nus ldan rdo rje ). The meeting took   place in Pema Dechen Lingpa's adopted home region of Tsenri ( btsan ri) and Taksham transmitted to him all his treasure cycles. Pema Dechen Lingpa's treasure site Mudo, in present-day Rongdrak County ( rong brag rdzong ) in Kardzé Prefecture, has long been a Nyingma (and possibly Bön) sacred site and place of treasure activity. Karma Gyeltsen's recently published anthology of pilgrimage guides for sacred sites in Kham contains three separate works about Mudo. The first two texts are compositions of one Trülku Sangyé Lingpa, who is certainly not the great fourteenth century revealer of the Lama Gongdü ( bla ma dgongs 'dus). They are the  shar rgyal mo dmu rdo'i gsol 'debs (attributed in the colophon to the eighth century translator Vairocana, who was exiled to Gyalrong and is associated with Mudo's mythology; 374) and the shar rgyal mo dmu rdor skor ba'i phan yon zur bkod (pp. 375-378). The third pilgrimage text about Mudo is by Nyakla Jangchub Dorjé's ( nyag bla byang chub rdo rje ; fl. early 20th cent.) pilgrimage guide and inventory of  Mudo, the rgyal mo rong gi gnas chen dmu rdo. It was also published in 1992 as a pamphlet (W21638).

he even composed a volume of treasures, and then burned them.

161

92 At age twenty-

one Tsewang Norbu committed to writing some revelations that he liked and they are now part of his surviving Collected Works.162 In the fall of the same year, during the Descent From Heaven holiday (lha bab dus chen), Tsewang Norbu traveled to Katok for the first time. At the great monastery Sönam Deutsen, himself a lay tantrist, gave Tsewang Norbu the ordination of a celibate layperson.163 In fact Tsewang Norbu was never a monk, although he later became an advocate for the mo nastic revival in Kham in the middle of the eighteenth century.164 At age twenty -two, several years after the death of  Pema Dechen Lingpa, Tsewang Norbu met with his late lama's son Pema Wangyal ( pad+ma dbang rgyal). The latter requested Tsewang Norbu to wri te liturgies on their common teacher's treasure cycle, the Longsel Khandro Nyingtik, and he complied.

165

That year

Tsewang Norbu also had a strong desire to meet the aging treasure revealer Rolpé

161

Tsewang Norbu, Supreme Medication for the Fever, 210: lo der yid la ma bsam rang shar gyi tshig thol thol du ma byung ba thugs gter gyi khul di yi ger bkod pas gu ru rak+sha thod phreng gi chos skor glegs  bam chen por long tsam grub mtshams dgos med cig snying la shar nas me la sregs pa de dus rgyus yod kyi grwa pa yang mang. 162

Chökyi Wangchuk, Amazing Sea of Enjoyment for the Faithful, 31. These treasures are called the Secret Path ( DAk+ki gsang lam ) and found in volume one of the new edition of his Collected  Works. At age thirty Tsewang Norbu revealed another set of treasures, the Yangzab Upade śa ( yang zab u  pa de shaH ), also in volume one. Ḍākin ī 's

163

Tsewang Norbu, Supreme Medication for the Fever, 221

164

His own reflections on this will be excerpted in the next section.

165

Chökyi Wangchuk, Amazing Sea of Enjoyment for the Faithful, 32. This text does not appear to be among his published works but two other titles on this cycle are extant: klong gsal mkha' 'gro snying thig   gis [sic] dkyil 'khor lha mtshan gsal bar phyes pa k eta ka yi thig so lta bu (v. 2, pp. 475-476), and klong   gsal mkha' 'gro snying thig gi cha lag gi bsgrub pa'i tshe sgrub 'chi med rdo rje rgya mdud kyi bdag mdun bskyod bzlas bdag 'jug bcas kyi cho ga khrigs chags su bkod pa (v. 2, pp. 482-490).

Dorjé ( rol pa'i rdo rje), who was based in Zurmang ( zur mang), but couldn't get

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across a river to meet him in the fall of that year. A few months later the great tertön died before Tsewang Norbu could make another attempt to see him. 166 This year in his life marks the end of the early phase of his training when he was involved nearly exclusively with the Nyingma treasure cult. In the aftermath of the Dzungar invasion of central Tibet and their destruction of the great Nyingma monasteries of  Mindroling and Dorjédrak (during which the Nyingma luminaries Lochen Dharmashri [lo chen dar ma sh+ri; 1654-1717] and Pema Trinlé [ pad+ma phrin las; 1641 -1717] were assassinated), many important Nyingma lineage holders fled to eastern Tibet. 167 Among the refugees from whom Tsewang Norbu received teachings were two sons of  Mindroling's founder Terdak Lingpa, Gyurmé Rinchen Namgyel ( 'gyur med rin chen rnam rgyal ), Gyurmé Pema Zangpo or Gyatso ( 'gyur med pad+ma bzang po/rgya mtsho). From these representatives of  the leading Nyingma monastery of  the time Tsewang Norbu broadened his Nyingma t raining from the regional traditions of  recent treasure revealers such as Dundül Dorjé, Longsel Nyingpo, Pema Dechen Lingpa, Rolpé Dorjé, and others to include treasures that were quickly gaining currency throughout the Nyingma world. 168 The lamas gave him many initiations and transmissions for

166

This unfortunate frustration of his plans is the last event chronicled in the Supreme Medication for the

 Fever (220-221). 167

Petech, China and Tibet in the Early XVIIIth Cenury , 53-54; and Dalton, "The Uses of the  Dgongs Pa 'Dus Pa'i Mdo in the Development of the Rnying-Ma School of Tibetan Buddhism," 239. 168

Chökyi Wangchuk, Amazing Sea of Enjoyment for the Faithful, 40.

classic treasure cycles by Nyangrel Nyimé özer and Guru Chöwang, as well as

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many of Terdak Lingpa’s New Treasures (gter gsar ). In his twenty -fourth year Tsewang Norbu returned to Katok for another meeting with Sönam Deutsen. This time the son of  Longsel Nyingpo and leader of  Katok enthroned Tsewang Norbu as one of  his regents. 169 The enthronement was a testament to Tsewang Norbu's remarkable intelligence and charisma. He refused the appointment, though, for reasons pertaining to his avowal of  the "vagabond" ( rgyal

khams pa) lifestyle. After his mid -twenties Tsewang Norbu's involvement with Nyingma lamas and institutions dropped off. One reason for this is simply that his religious instruction began to wind down after that age and he instead began to travel and do intensive retreat. The other reason for the movement away from Nyingma teachings is that around this time Tsewang Norbu developed a fondness for Kagyü and Jonang teachings.170 Tsewang Norbu’s commitments to the Kagyü school will be discussed immediately below. This brief  survey of  Tsewang Norbu's early training and involvement with Nyingma teachings and institutions has shown that he was raised in a milieu permeated by the teachings of  Dundül Dorjé, Longsel Nyingpo a nd their students. Furthermore he was literally made heir to that tradition and invested with a position 169 170

Ibid., 42.

It goes without saying that what was selected for inclusion here does not exhaust Tsewang Norbu's  Nyingma activities. One issue left underdeveloped here is his conflicted relationship to his own treasure revelations and the literary and doctrinal qualities of the treasures themselves.

of authority at Katok monastery. Tsewang Norbu even bore the title Katok

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Rindzin. Nevertheless his varied religious commitments and peripatetic lifestyle took him far afield of  Katok for much of  his life. He did not return to the fray until the early 1750s. Tsewang Norbu's Involvement with the Karma Kagyü sect

Tsewang Norbu also came to be a major figure in the Karma Kagyü sect. His involvement with the sect began simply as a curious advanced student who was looking for new contemplative instructions, and then gradually evolved into a position of great prominence in the sect. His affiliation with the Karma Kagyü school would come to the fore when Tsewang Norbu reestablished his connections with Katok towards the end of his life. At age twentythree (1720) Tsewang Norbu traveled to Markham Wendzong (smar khams dben rdzong) to meet Zurmang Chetsang ( zur mang che tshang).171 The former lama's full name is Sungrap Gyatso ( gsung rab rgya mtsho) and he was an incarnation in the Chetsang lineage based at the large Karma Kagyü institution of  Zurmang monastery in Nangchen.172 Tsewang Norbu was deeply impressed with this teacher and calls him his second "root lama." 173 During this first meeting Tsewang

171

Ibid., 36

172

For more on this great monastery see The History of Zurmang Lhündrupling  (dpal bkra shis zur mang  lhun grub gling gi lo rgyus ). The ninth section of this long work is a history of the Chetsang lineage, including a biography of Tsewang Norbu’s teacher Sungrap Gyatso. 173

Thus Sönam Deutsen, for all his hopes in Tsewang Norbu, is not considered by the latter to be one of his most important teachers. His first root lama, of course, was Pema Dechen Lingpa.

Norbu received many Kagyü and Nyingma teachings from him. It is no accident

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that this lama gave both Kagyü and Nyingma teachings. In general comments about the monasteries in this area, the author of  Guru Trashi’s History states that the local Kagyü monasteries in Nangchen were deeply involved in Nyingma tarditions. Ngawang Lodrö writes, "Glorious Riwoché (ri bo che) and the Zurmang monasteries ostensibly are great sees of  the Kagyü teachings but in actual fact (the resident lamas) are all great keepers of  the teachings of  the supremely esoteric Nyingma." 174 The Autobiography A Lotus Cupped Between Your Hands ( snyim pa'i chu skyes ) records that Chetsang gave Tsewang Norbu many Mah āmudrāteachings and instructions on the Wishfulfilling Gem Triad of Cakrasamvara (bde mchog yid bzhin

nor bu skor gsum).175 In one of  his shorter, more esoteric, autobiographical pieces Tsewang Norbu writes that these Kagyü practices helped him make great improvements in his meditation. He shares with the readers,176 Previously my (meditation on) self-awareness, the essential state, was slightly harmed by drowsiness and torpor, (on the one hand and on the other,) wandering and excitement; and I was slightly do ubtful about 174

Ngawang Lodrö, Guru Trashi's History, 750; dpal ri bo che dang/ zur mang ba rnams kyang bka' brgyud  pa'i gdan sa chen po yin kyang don gyis gsang chen rnying ma'i bstan 'dzin chen po sha stag tu bzhugs pa yin no. 175

This is a Drukpa Kagyü collection of Teachings; Cf. Padma-dkar-po. Bde Mchog Sñan Brgyud Nor Bu Skor Gsum: Collected Ancient Instructions for the Practice of the Orally Transmitted Teachings Focussing Upon Cakrasamvara By Various Masters of the Tradition. Palampur, Himachal Pradesh: Sungrab Nyamso Gyunphel Parkhang, 1985. 176

Chökyi Wangchuk, Amazing Sea of Enjoyment for the Faithful, 37: rang gi yang rang rig gshis kyi ngo  bo sngar dus su bying rmugs 'phro rgod kyis kyang cung zad gnod cing yin min gyi the tshom brang bring du yong ba de phyin re dogs the tshom rnam par dag ste sngar gyi nyams myong de 'phel 'grib cher mi 'gro  bas brtan par gyur te/ dam pas kyang nyams rtogs zung 'jug gam zhi lhag zung 'jug tu ngo sprod de don la gong de rje btsun bde chen gling pas ngo sprod pa dang do mthun pa yin gsung.

identifying it (i.e., self-awareness). Hereafter my hopes, fears, and

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doubts were purified and because the vicissitudes will not intensify my earlier meditative experiences stabilized. That which this holy one (Chetsang) introduced as the unio n of  meditative experience and realization, or the union of  calm abiding and special insight, is in agreement with what venerable Dechen Lingpa introduced (to me)." In 1725 Tsewang Norbu traveled to Central Tibet. He had an audience with the twelfth Karmapa and eighth Zhamar. 177 The following year he met a Kagyü lama that he would accept as his third root lama, the third Trewo (tre bo) Rinpoché Karma Tendzin Dargyé (kar+ma bstan 'dzin dar rgyas; 1653 -1730). This lama gave him several Kagyü teachings. More importantly, though, he introduced Tsewang Norbu to the Jonang tradition. Tsewang Norbu’s involvement with the Jonang sect is worthy of a long study but is not immediately relevant here.178 Furthermore, the same year that he met Trewo Rinpoche (1726) , Tsewang Norbu traveled to Western Tibet and Nepal for the first time. A full discussion of  these trips far exceeds the purview of this dissertation. Suffice it to say that from this year on until his death in 1755 Tsewang Norbu spent much of  his time in Western

177

The names of the two Karma Kagyü heirarchs are Karmapa Jangchup Dorjé ( kar +ma pa byang chub rdo rje; 1703-1732) and Zhamar Pelchen Chökyi Döndrup ( zhwa dmar  dpal chen chos kyi don drub ; 16951732) 178

Cf. Stearns, The Buddha From Dolpo , Chapter Two, part three. Stearns used many of these sources for  his excellent history of Tsewang Norbu’s study and promotion of Jonang Other-Emptiness ( gzhan stong ) teachings.

Tibet and Nepal. In these regions he engaged in temple restoration, teaching, and

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peace making.179 In 1733 the Karmapa and Zhamar  – the two highest -ranking lamas of  the Karma Kagyü sect – died en route to China. This tragic event opened up a leadership vacuum in the sect and imposed upon the custodians of  the sect major searches for two reincarnated lamas at the same time.180 The strife that often attends the process of  searching for and enthroning a reincarnate lama are legendary. Tsewang Norbu became very involved in the searches  – alongside Situ Penchen  – and in so doing raised his profile in the sect tremendously. It is fair to say that during this interregnum Tsewang Norbu became something of an interim manager of the Karma Kagyü sect. A contributing factor to his rise to prominence was that at this time Situ Penchen was extremely busy in Degé. Situ finished editing the Degé Kanjur in 1733 and then had to leave his Degé patrons in 1734 and 1735 to deal with the funerals of  the Karmapa and Zhamar. Thus by 1736 and 1737 Situ was again obligated to stay in Degé to attend to the Degé royal family and build up his new monastery Palpung, which was founded in 1728. Fortunately the recognition of the thirteenth Karmapa did not result in much conflict181 and the lead cand idate received the support of  the king of  Tibet, 179

Tsewang Norbu’s Collected Works contain a sufficient amount of material about this and it deserves to  be the subject of its own study. 180 181

Smith, Among Tibetan Texts, 90-91.

Situ Penchen,  Autobiography, 178.3; Situ was in Degé at the time of the recognition but heard from Tsewang Norbu that the main candidate was the clear choice: rig 'dzin chen po'i bang mi bka' shog 'byor  kar+ma pa'i sprul sku legs par gsal 'dug  (178.3).

182

Pholhané.

99 The thirteenth Karmapa was named Dundül Dorjé (1733/34 -1797)

and enthroned in 1736. 183 Unlike the peaceful recognition and enthronement of  the Karmapa, the recognition of  the ninth Zhamar caused infighting similar to what we see now with the recognition struggles between the partisans of the two Karmapas in the present-day Tibetan community. Two rival claimants were proposed and in the end the candidate chosen by Situ and Tsewang Norbu was enthroned at Zhamar's home monastery of  Yangpajen ( yangs pa can). Much more will be said about the Zhamar lamas in the second half of this chapter. Tsewang Norbu continued to be a major teacher and figure in the Karma Kagyü school until his death. His Collected Works are dominated by writings on Kagyü liturgies, contemplation, and history. One of  the great Kagyü historical documents of  the eighteenth century is his education dossier ( gsan yig) of  Kagyü teachings, a comprehensive record of  the prominent and obscure Kagyü teachings and teachers in circulation in the eighteenth century.184 In summary, when in his early twenties Tsewang Norbu took an active interest in Karma Kagyü teachings that evolved into his long term and influential involvement in the sect. Furthermore Tsewang Norbu's involvement with the Kagyü sect seems to have been in inverse proportion with his dealings with Nyingma 182

Chökyi Wangchuk, Amazing Sea of Enjoyment for the Faithful, 69.

183

For a short Tibetan-authored biography of the thirteenth Karmapa composed in English (?) see Thinley,

The History of the Sixteen Karmapas of Tibet, Chapter Thirteen. From the very first paragraph of this

account the role of Tsewang Norbu in the recognition of this lama is evident. 184

The full name of this work is lha rje mnyam med zla 'od gzhon nu'i bka' brgyud phyag chen gdams pa ji tsam nod pa'i rtogs brjod legs bshad rin chen 'byung khungs and it is found in Tsewang Norbu, Collected Works, Vol. 1, 367-400.

institutions and traditions during this time. Additionally Tsewang Norbu never

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returned to Kham after he left it in his early twenties. Thus Tsewang Norbu began his religious career as a reincarnated lama in a growing circle of  reincarnated lamas affiliated with Longsel Nyingpo and Katok Monastery. He then left Kham and largely disengaged from the Nyingma sect for three decades while he a ttached himself to the Kagyü sect and cenral and western Tibetan politics. Then in his fifties Tsewang Norbu renewed his close involvement with Katok in pursuit of  a drive to reform the monastery. The remainder of this chapter is devoted to a one or two year period in the early 1750s when Tsewang Norbu reconnected with Katok. He did not have the impact on Katok that he intended but his agenda and rhetoric illuminate the concerns of some Katok lamas who were displeased with the Longsel era at Katok. Tsewang Norbu's Campaign to Reform Katok

Late in his life Tsewang Norbu became very concerned about the plight of  Katok and took drastic measures to impose his vision of reform on Katok. Tsewang Norbu reacted to the changes introduced at Katok by Longsel Nyingpo and the state of Katok under the administration of  his successors sixty years after the treasure revealer's death. Tsewang Norbu’s rejection of  some of  the components of  the the post-Longsel regime is the first recorded reaction away from or against the changes that had occurred at Katok in the preceding seventy -five years. This episode is important for the study of  Katok monastery’s history because Tsewang Norbu’s campaign to reform Katok brings to the fore structural incongruities between the pre

and post Longsel periods at Katok. For this reason a sustained analysis of 

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Tsewang Norbu’s writings and actions regarding the structural tensions between the different institutional regimens at Katok will also make a contribution to studies of  the development of  monasticism in Tibet more broadly. This section has two parts: Tsewang Norbu's stated complaints against Katok and his suggestions for reform. My primary source for this section is a collection of  letters written by Tsewang Norbu and addressed to the seventh Dalai Lama, the king of  Dege, Situ Penchen, and Zhamar Rinpoche. The letters were sent from Western Tibet and preserved in a manuscript edition of  his Collected Works compiled and edited in Kyidrong ( skyid grong).185 As intimated earlier in this chapter, Tsewang Norbu tried to effect change at Katok by installing a new lama as the leader of  Katok. These letters were written shortly after this was attempted and vigorously argue Tsewang Norbu’s reasons for such an act. It is highly possible that because these letters were written shortly after the unsuccessful attempt at installing a new head lama at Katok that Tsewang Norbu intensified his rhetoric from his original formulations of  the problems or his actual feelings on the matter. The letters are extremely corrupt and contain many spelling errors and occasional passages with scribal errors so bad that even my most learned informants could not decipher. I will supplements several long translated excerpts from Tsewang Norbu’s letters with numerous citations of  Situ Penchen’s  Autobiography. The latter work is extremely important for this study 185

This edition was the basis for the edition of his Collected Works in six volumes: The Collected Works (gsuṅ ʼ bum) of Kaḥ-thog Rig-ʼ dzin Chen-po Tshe-dba ṅ-nor-bu . Dalhousie, H.P.: Damchoe Sangpo, 19761977

because it is the only autobiographical account by someone directly involved in

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carrying out Tsewang Norbu’s plans for reform at Katok. Criticisms of the Current State of Katok

Tsewang Norbu’s most detailed statement of  his vision of  Katok's authentic traditions is articulated in a letter to the seventh Dalai Lama composed in 1752; again, after Tsewang Norbu attempted to impose new leadership on the monastery.186 Tsewang Norbu and the Dalai Lama had been close for many years and were in regular contact during the early 1750s. At this time Tsewang Norbu was brokering several different peace deals in the Himalayas and thus regularly report ing his progress to the Dalai Lama and the Lhasa government. In the excerpts below Tsewang Norbu presents to the Dalai Lama his pessimistic historiography of  Katok and his desire to see the original teachings and form of administration revived. In the first excerpt Tsewang Norbu talks about three interrelated issues for him: study of  the Kama, monasticism, and meritocratic succession at Katok. The passage reads,187 Previously at Katok the holders of  the Teachings  – which consisted solely of  the S ūtra, Magical Net, and Mental Class  – (were selected) analogously to the burning, cutting, and rubbing of gold. (This mode of  186 187

Tsewang Norbu, Collected Letters, 761-764.

Ibid., 762. lar kaH thog 'di sngar mdo dang sgyu 'phrul sems phyogs 'ba' zhig gi bstan pa 'dzin par bsreg  bcad brdar ba'i gser bzhin dbon rabs dang gdung rab lta bu ma yin pa mdo dgongs pa 'dus pa dang/ sgyu 'phrul gsang ba snying po/ sems phyogs kun byed rgyal po ma bu rnams kyi rnam bshad 'bru non nges/ rang  blos spel bar nes (read nus) pa'i klog dang/ bsam pa sdom gsum dag pas bla ma'i thugs zin gyi thog mar nye gnas mdzad cing/ sgom pa sems phyogs kyi nyams len mi gyo ba'i nyams la sogs pa ting nge 'dzin bzang po skyes pa la rgyal tshabs su rim par brgyud pa bla ma gdan rabs bcu gsum gyi bar de kho na ltar byung 'dug cing.

succession) was unlike uncle -nephew and hereditary modes of 

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succession. Throughout the abbacies of  the thirteen lamas, who appeared in consecutive succession as regents, (the head lamas of  the monastery gained their positions) solely in the following (threefold) way: 1) studying the definitive word commentaries of  the expositions of the mother and son texts, i.e, the Sūtra That Gathers the Intentions, the root text of the Magical Net the Secret Nucleus, and the root text of  the Mental Class the All -Creating King, 2) contemplation (which includes) serving as an attendant through becoming the lama’s favorite because of  pure observance o f the three vows, 188 and 3) in terms of  meditation, generating excellent contemplation, such as unwavering meditation experiences through cultivation of the Mental Class. The translation of  this passage may sound awkward, but the thrust of  the argument is c lear. Tsewang Norbu portrays an idealized original Katok tradition characterized by a meritocratic system of  succession, exclusive adherence to the Kama, and monasticism (implied with the phrase pure observance of the three vows but confirmed elsewhere). In the Introduction to the study it was shown that Katok has always been home to a diverse set of  teachings including Treasures and Sarma teachings such as the Mah āmūdra. Yet over the centuries many Katok lamas have 188

The Tibetan of this sentence is especially difficult to understand and perhaps corrupted. For instance, why does serving as an attendant (nye gnas mdzad ) fall under the category of contemplation? An alternative reading sees studying ( klog pa) and contemplation (bsam pa) as a pair and comprising part 2, and serving as attendant as part two. This is not likely because this passage seems to be structured around the triad of studying, contemplation, and meditation, thus the two should be kept separate.

held that the monastery's core tradition is the Kama. Here Tsewang Norbu is

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turning this convention of self-representation into a reactionary polemic. He is using the monastery's primary affiliation to the Kama to reject the changes implemented at Katok in recent times. Many contemporary scholars agree that Tibetan Buddhism is animated by a creative tension between clerical and less institutional modalities. Tsewang Norbu seems to be operating out an analogous dichotomy. He sees an opposition between, on the one hand, rigorous academic study of  canonical scriptures, celibate monasticism, and meritocratic rule, and on the other hand, and on the other hand, abandonment of  the Kama, lax morality, and heredit ary or reincarnation -based succession. The three elements of  each pole seem to be mutually reinforcing, yet in my reading of  the material Tsewang Norbu gives relative primacy to mode of  succession. Tsewang Norbu believes Katok has degenerated from the firs t to the second modality. He is not arguing that the Kama is the only orthodox set of  teachings in the Nyingma School overall, rather he is primarily concerned with preventing the monastery from becoming completely overtaken by hereditary lamas and trülkus. It is as if he thinks that this transformation has not been finalized and he can somehow scale it back. In the passage above Tsewang Norbu also identifies a golden age when the original Katok tradition was fully operational at the monastery. He says the initial thirteen generations of lamas exclusively upheld this tradition. Tsewang Norbu then claims that the stretch of  lamas who controlled Katok during the fifteenth and

sixteenth centuries  – after the first thirteen lamas  – maintained a regimen

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"comparable to" that of  the monastery’s founding fathers ( sgrig lam phyogs mthun): “Subsequently, during the period spanning from Jñanakeru (i.e., Yeshé Gyeltsen, b. 1395) to Tsambunbor Tashi Gyatso the regimen was comparable (to that of  the thirteen lamas).” 189 Yes hé Gyeltsen is associated with both Kama commentarial literature and Katok's Mah āmūdra lineages and his treatises on both subjects are still extant.190 Trashi Gyatso (fl. sixteenth century) was an important author in the Katok line of  instruction on the Penetration of Samantabhadra’s Intention (Gongpa

 Zangthel; dgongs pa zang thal).191 In Tsewang Norbu’s periodization of Katok Yeshé Gyeltsen and Trashi Gyatso represent the first, but minor, stage in the decline of  Katok. The lamas that followed them ruined Katok, according to Tsewang Norbu. The next period of  lamas at Katok  – the Drungpa lamas  – are blamed for causing a fundamental break with the earlier tradition. Tsewang Norbu writes,192

189

Ibid., p. 762; de rjes kyang dza+nyA na ke ru nas tsam bu 'bor bkra shis rgya mtsho'i bar de yi sgrig lam  phyogs mthun. 190

Yeshé Gyeltsen's works include his massive commentary on Dampa Deshek's Outline of the [ Nine]

Vehicles (theg pa spyi bcings ) called the Commentary on the Outline of the Vehicles . 191

Tashi Gyatso was a student of Horpo Shakya Gyeltsen, one of the greatest scholars of the Drung period. Both of them wrote commentaries on the  Penetration of Samantabhadra’s Intention : rdzogs pa chen po dgongs pa zang thal gyi man ngag zab don mngon sum gsal byed  and zab mo snying thig gi gnad thams cad  bsdus pa'i don khrid lag len gsal ba , respectively. These two works are found in Volume Five of the Thirteen Great Instructions of Katok ( kaH thog khrid chen bcu gsum ), ed. Gyurmé Tenpa Namgyel ( 'gyurmed bstan pa rnam rgyal ; 1886-1952)). 192

Tsewang Norbu, Collected Letters, 762; de rjes bla rabs kha shas kaH thog drung pa zhes dbon brgyud kyi bskyang zhing btsun tshugs ma shor tsam las thos bsam bsgom pa'i srol cung zad dman pas dgon pa'i lar  rgya yang phyis gting sde dges bdag gir byas shing/ de mtshams gter ston klong gsal snying po la sde dge sangs rgyas bstan pas dgon pa tshang 'gril phul zhing drung pa'i chos gzhis gnyis su bsgos te phyed gter  ston la phul/ phyed sde dge'i lo skor (read lo skya?) 'du ba'i thes su sbyar.

After them several lamas in succession known as the Katok

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Drungpa administered (the monastery) with an uncle-nephew mode of  succession. Apart from merely not losing altogether the established monastic discipline, the customs of  hearing, contemplating, and meditating declined some. Eventually the monastery's cultural integrity (lar rgya) dissipated. Degé then commandeered (Katok). Afterward Degé king Sangyé Tenpa gave the entire monastery to treasure revealer Longsel Nyingpo and ordered the Drungpa estate (divided) in two. Half was given to Longsel Nyingpo and half was applied towards Degé's gathering of annual crops.

The first thing Tsewang Norbu says about the Drungpa is that their line was propagated through an indirect line of  hereditary succession from uncle to nephew (dbon brgyud ). The very next thing he says about the Drung lamas is that initially they barely maintained the study program, but eventually the monastery’s cultural integrity was lost altogether. Thus by adopting a hereditary mode of  succession the study and meditation suffered greatly and the kingdom eventually took possession of  the monastery. Tsewang Norbu can be seen to suggest an implicit causality between abandonment of meritocracy and the ruination of the monastery.193

193

It is more likely that Degé took over the monastery because they wanted to break the Drungpa regime and its economic base in order to establish a new leadership at that would be cooperative with the kingdom.

In claiming that the Drung lamas presided over a complete break with the

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past Tsewang Norbu is able to avoid laying any of  the blame at Longsel Nyingpo’s feet. Tsewang Norbu was obligated to keep Longsel Nyingpo above the fray because he is part of the Longsel lineage by reincarnation status and because one of his main teachers was Longsel's son. To a contemporary western scholar it would seem that Longsel bears some responsibility for the changes that Tsewang Norbu decries, but here Tsewang Norbu blames the Drungpa lamas for degrading Katok to such a degree that Degé was compelled to take over the monastery. He seems to be implying that Longsel couldn't help but change Katok since he inherited a broken monastery. In fact, Tsewang Norbu is nearly silent on the period of Longsel’s tenure at Katok. In his letters Tsewang Norbu makes many more individual complaints about the current state of Katok but the above suffice as the summation of his views on the matter. Criticisms of Drimé Zhingkyong

The preceding section analyzed Tsewang Norbu's trenchant criticism of  the degenerations in study, discipline, and succession that had befallen Katok. It was shown that Tsewang Norbu suggested that uncle-nephew lineages are opposed to the true Katok heritage. In his letters Tsewang Norbu proceeds from structural criticisms about the general problem of non-meritocratic modes of succession at Katok, as seen above, to then name a particular contemporaneous figure who is the embodiment of  this new “problem” at Katok. Tsewang Norbu singles our Drimé Zhingkyong Gönpo

(dri med zhing skyong mgon po; 1724-1786), the reincarnation of  Longsel’s son

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Sönam Deutsen (d. 1723) as the chief culprit. Sönam Deutsen too is representative of  the institutional changes at Katok. According to Tsewang Norbu’s autobiographies Sönam Deutsen did not teach the Kama to Tsewang Norbu, nor was he a monk. He gained his status at Katok through hereditary succession, as his father was Longsel Nyingpo, and because he was also a reincarnate lama, said to be the reincarnation of  Dündül Dorjé. This section covers Tsewang Norbu’s zealous campaign against Zhingkyong because of  his alleged ineffective leadership and because of  what he represents as a product of the new regime at Katok.194 Sönam Deutsen was considered the "immediate reincarnation" ( de ma thag

 pa'i sprul sku ) of Dündül Dorjé, meaning he was born relatively soon after Dündül's death. I contend tha the notion of  reincarnated lama used in this case was primarily nominal or ceremonial and did not involve Sönam Deutsen actually inheriting Dündül Dorjé’s estate and becoming a key lineage holder of his teachings, as the role of “reincarnated lama” is usually understood. In fact great treasure revealers such as Dündul Dorjé do not usually spawn reincarnation lineages. 195 Moreover, in the late seventeenth century reincarnate lamas were still not very prominent in the Nyingma school overall. Only with the growth of  large Nyingma monas teries in Degé, as 194

The Zhingkyong reincarnation line was the first powerful and on-going line of reincarnate lamas at Katok and is still the highest-ranked such line in twenty-first century Katok. Profiles of all the Zhingkyong lamas are found in Jamyang Gyeltsen,  Brief History of Katok, 103-108. Chapter Three of this dissertation covers the growth of reincarnate lamas at Katok. 195

It is my observation that most treasure revealers, regardless of fame, do not usually give rise to reincarnation lines upon their deaths. Rather, a given tertön’s treasures are maintained by their blood relatives and prophesied “treasure He gained his statu), which limits the need to establish a reincarnation for the purpose of the propagation of the treasures or personal property.

109 chronicled in Chapter One, do we see the rise of  Nyingma institutional reincarnated lamas who were meant to provide continuity of  leadership for their monasteries and estates. Institutional reincarnated lamas came to Katok with Sönam De utsen’s reincarnation. Tsewang Norbu, for instance, was not such a reincarnate lama. He was the "reincarnation" of  a minor figure who was a student of  Longsel's. He was only invested at Katok because of his great abilities, not because his previous incarnation had a role at Katok monastery itself. Sönam Deutsen's trülku Zhingkyong, on the other hand, was supposed to step into his predecessor's shoes and rule the monastery. In the next chapter we will talk about Zhingkyong in a balanced way based on a variety of sources. In this chapter the concern is on on Tsewang Norbu's  portrayal of  Zhingkyong. Tsewang Norbu began his attack on Zhingkyong by casting aspersion on his very status as the reincarnation of  Sonam Deutsen. Tsewang Norbu claims that Drimé Zhingkyong's father forced Zhingkyong into this role even though he was not the real reincarnation of  Sonam Deutsen. In a letter to the seventh Dalai Lama Tsewang Norbu attempts to expose the dishonest means by which Drimé Zhingkyong himself  came to be known as th e trülku of  Sönam Deutsen. The letter reads,196

196

Tsewang Norbu, Collected Letters, 787; bdag gi bla ma bsod nams lde'u btsan gyis sprul skur grags pa du ma byung ba las/ 'ba' phyogs kyi sngags rgyud zhig shes sgo gsal khul gyi kho rang dgon du phyin nas nged dang si tu'i tshad mar byas pa'i rdzun bad la brten sde dges kyang chu 'bab tu gzhag 'dug rung blo bab med gshis/ khong rang yang shas cher 'ba' phyogs su sdod yod 'dug lags.

Many (children) reputed to be trülkus of my lama Sönam Deutsen

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emerged, including one born to a family of  tantrists ( sngags rgyud ) from Batang ('ba' phyogs). (Drimé Zhingkyong’s father) was clever so once he arrived at the monastery he gave the false impression that Situ and I had verified (his son as the trülku). Degé was not completely satisfied but  just let it rest at that. He (the father) mainly lives in the Batang. According to this account Zhingkyong's father lied to the authorities, telling them that Situ Penchen and Tsewang Norbu had recognized the boy to be the reincarnation of  Sönam Deutsen. Zhingkyong's father comes off  sounding like a cunning village priest who installed his son at a big monastery thr ough brazen deception. Actually, Zhingkyong's father was not a minor lay tantrist but a respected treasure revealer from the Batang area. His name was Chöjé Lingpa ( chos rje gling

 pa; 1682-1725/6) and forty -two of  his treasures are collected in the Rinchen Terdzöd.197 Knowing Zhingkyong's paternity we can better appreciate the ferocity of  Tsewang Norbu's attack on Zhingkyong. In other letters Tsewang Norbu makes related claims about Zhingkyong not having a destiny with Katok. In a letter to the king of  Dege h e writes, "How can I settle on an appraisal of  what Zhingkyong is

197

Jamyang Gyeltsen,  Brief History of Katok, 104. For a brief profile in English of Chöjé Lingpa, see Bradburn,  Masters of the Nyingma Lineage , 279-281.

really like? I have heard he is good. But there have always been signs that he

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would not be of much of  much benefit to Katok" (emphasis added).198 Tsewang Norbu uses temple renovations as the main index by which to judge to  judge Drimé Zhingkyong's service to the monastery. At one point Tsewang Norbu grudgingly admits that Drimé Zhingkyong 199 did at least attempt to raise funds and repair the monastery. In his letter to the seventh Dalai Lama he mentions Drimé Zhingkyong and Trashi Puntsok’s campaign to get permission to raise funds for the renovation of  the monastery. Tsewang Norbu writes that Zhingkyong "was repeatedly insistent about the need for permission to repair Katok. Because of  his concern he submitted t o Degé (prince) Sönam Gönpo 200 a letter with an appeal for permission to renovate (Katok), like a child presenting to his parents the good and bad (of a (of  a situation)."201 Tsewang Norbu does not think that Drimé Zhingkyong was completely noble and selfless in raising money for the renovation of the of  the monastery.Rather he uses the discussion of  Zhingkyong’s fundraising efforts to explicitly accuse Drimé

198

Tsewang Norbu, Collected Letters, 775; zhing skyong rang nyid ngo bo bzang ngan ci ltar yin ni bdag gi kha tshon ga la gcod bzang po yin nyan yod/ kaH thog gi bstan pa la ni phan pa cher mi 'byung ba'i ltas sngar nas kyang shar  199

Working in concert with Tashi Puntsok, Sönam Deutsen's nephew.

200

Sönam Gönpo was the first son of Tenpa Tsering ( bstan pa tshe ring ), ), the greatest of Degé's kings and  publisher of the Degé Kangyur. 201

Ibid., 762; kaH thog gi zhig gso sgrub chog pa dgos tshul snga phyir nan bskyed dang/ 'di ras kyang do gal byas 'dug par zhig gso byas chog tshul gyi 'phros kyang sde dge bsod nams mgon po la btang ba'i ze reg (read reg zig) kyang bu tshas pha mar legs nyes gsol ltar gzigs lam du phebs pa.

Zhingkyong of  misappropriating the money solicited for the monastery. In a

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particularly libelous passage in a letter to the king Degé, Tsewang Norbu says,202 For many years Zhingkyong’s wandered around advertising ( bsnyed 

 pa) the renovations at Katok, summoned as if  (tied) by a rope and roaming around like water ( thag ltar du sbran chu ltar du nyul ).203 He collected a lot and then deposited it at Katok. (Claiming) the Rindzin Chenpo [i.e. Tsewang Norbu] didn't order a renovation, he shamelessly directed the money towards his family's calls for support ( gso sbran) and did not care at all about protecting the temple from thi thi eves. eves. If  because he didn’t prioritize (the renovation; skabs su mi che bas) the faithful no longer regarded the temple and do not contribute towards the renovation, that would be an inexhaustible sin and downfall. This year we have to decisively aggregate all of  Zhingkyong’s (remaining) assets (and reclaim them for the monastery). Two major accusations are made in this passage. The first accusation is that Drimé Zhingkyong falsely claimed Tsewang Norbu did not order the renovations. Tsewang Norbu wants his reader –  reader  – the the king of Degé of  Degé –   – to to assume the worst and think 202

Tsewang Norbu, Collected Letters, 771; de yang zhing skyong rang nas lo mang po'i snga rol nas kaH thog gi zhig gso la bsnyad pa'i rgyal khams thag ltar du sbran chu ltar du nyul rnyad dgu bsdus te gzhag kaH thog gi zhig gso rig 'dzin chen po'i bkas ma gnang zhes dkor rdzas bag med khyim gyi gso sbran la gtang zhing gtsug lag khang gi rkun bsrung gi do gal tsam yang mi byed pa skabs su mi che bas des na dad can gyi gtsug lag la mi dmigs te phul ba'i dkor gtsug lag khang gi zhig gsor ma gtang na sdig ltung mi zad  pa'i rgyur che bas de tshe 'di lo zhing skyong can nas kyang ci yod nges par spung dgos dang. 203

I thank Khenpo Ngawang Dorje of the Tashi Choeling Dharma Center in Charlottesville for help understanding this idiom. He says that the first simile connotes repeated visit.

that Drimé Zhingkyong made up the preposterous claim that Tsewang Norbu did

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not want Katok to be repaired. The second and more serious allegation is that Drime Zhingkyong embezzled donations to Kat Kato k for the all -import -important ant renovations. The practice by lamas of supporting of  supporting their extended families with monastic funds was not unheard of, but it was considered a serious wrongdoing that resulted in defilement (dkor sgrib). In the following section we will look at Tsewang Norbu’s claims about the the state of disrepair of  disrepair of two of  two temples at Katok which is blamed on Zhingkyong. Katok in Disrepair

Over the course of  Tsewang Norbu's letter letterss , he mentions several different temples at Katok that needed repairs and gives scornful accounts of  the problems caused by Zhingkyong’s alleged neglect. Although it must be assumed that Tsewang Norbu’s accounts of  the disrepair at Katok are exaggerated to some degree (and second-hand), they offer important lessons in Tsewang Norbu’s thinking about the authentic Katok tradition. Furthermore the accounts of  the temples in these letters shed a light on some of  the temples that were important at Katok in the eighteenth century and earlier. Tsewang Norbu complains primarily about the sorry state of two of  two temples at Katok: Nyingön (nyin dgon) and Kumbum Ringmo (sku ‘bum ring mo ). Nyingön Temple

In two different letters to the king of  Degé Tsewang Norbu makes an impassioned plea for the renovation of  Nyingön, which is also known by the

homophone Nyinggön ( rnying dgon) or “Old Monastery.”

204

In one letter to the

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King of Degé of  Degé Tsewang Norbu says, “The earlier holy patriarchs praised it [Nyingon] as the abode of the of  the endless knot of Katok’s of  Katok’s heart,” 205 meaning it is the location of its of  its geomantic heart cakra. In another letter to the same recipient he expands upon the nature of the of  the site and its history:206 “In earlier times Dampa Déshek understood that Katok Nyinggön was the abode (of  the monastery’s) heart, and said that if  a meditation community was established there Katok’s teachings would be widely promulgated (ches dar ). ). Mahāsiddha Thangtong Gyelpo also praised it as such. During Buborwa Trashi Gyatso’s time there were scattered meditation monks ( bsgom gra; at Nyinggön/Nyingön). Subsequently, (as foretold) by Rindzin Gargyi Wangchuk in a prophecy, Vajraheru laid the foundatio n for his ecclesiastical household ( bla brang) and after that my forefather - and uncle -lamas gradually went there and properly established a retreat center. The first line of this of  this excerpt establishes that the Nyingön, or Nyinggön, area is a spiritually charged place and that the founder of Katok of  Katok Dampa Deshek intended for 204

Tsewang Norbu alternates between these two spellings, as do other authors.

205

Ibid., 770.

206

Tsewang Norbu, Collected Letters, 775; kaH thog dgon rnying de sngar dam pa bde gshegs nyid kyi yang thugs kyi gnas su dgongs nas ‘dir sgrub sde tshugs na kaH thog gi bstan pa ches dar zhes gsung zhing/ grub chen thang stong rgyal po’i yang de ltar bsngags shing/ bu ‘bor ba bkra shis rgya mtsho’i skabs su  bsgom gra tho re ba yod/ de rjes rig ‘dzin gar gi dbang phyug gi lung gi gtsang chen badz+ra he rus bla  brang gi rmang gting de rjes rang re’i yab mes sam khu bo bla ma rim can du byon nas bsgrub pa’i sde yang dag ‘dzugs par mdzad pa.

it to become a thriving place of meditation. of  meditation. Dampa Deshek’s biography recounts

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that many winters he taught tantric meditations and yogas on the sunny side of  the Katok valley ( nyin ri), the same side as Nyinggon’s location. Tsewang Norbu says above that at some point a meditation center was constructed. The Nyingön retreat center and temple were in existence by the first half  of  the seventeenth century because Longsel Nyingpo studied under t he "Nyingön lama" Sangye Tashi ( sangs

rgyas bkra shis) during his first stay at Katok in the 1740s.207 In a letter to the king of  Dege Tsewang Norbu makes specific claims about problems with the Nyingön temple. He emphatically states that under Zhingkyong “the old temple was not restored even a little.” 208 He states that the old stones and rammed earth, the contorted beams and pillars, and faulty drainage all need attention.209 Tsewang Norbu then takes his argument further and asserts that the royal court of  Dege should be concerned because the degredation at Katok has ramifications for the peace and prosperity of the of  the entire kingdom. He writes,210

207

Sangyé Tashi's reincarnation was found, thus starting the Nyingön trülku incarnation line. The first incarnation was recognized by Zhingkyong, thus he must have been born several decades after his  predecessor died. 208

Ibid., p. 771; gtsug lag khang rnying pa la bcos bsgyur cung zad yang ma song.

209

Ibid.; zhing sa rdo rnying pa bor zag mi gtang bar mi byd dka' med kyi ka gdung yo 'khyams bsrang ba thig tshag byed dgos. I did not translate this passage because I do not completely understand it. 210

Ibid., 770-771; kaH thog nyin dgon ‘di sngar rang re’i pha mes rngu yi bla mas btab pa kaH thog rang gi thugs dpe’i gnas su dam pa gong ma rnams kyi bsngags kyang/ dus phyis zhing gcod [correct to dbon] zung gi blo bde zhi med du byas 'dug pa rten 'brel spyi dang bye brag kaH thog gi yul bdag dang sbyin bdag gi gtso bo sde dge rgyal po rang nyid yin na de yi rten 'brel la yang gnod tshab che ba zhig byung bar shes la.

Katok Nyingon was founded in earlier times by my ancestors the

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Ngu ( rngu) lamas. 211 Even though it was praised by Dampa (Deshek and the other) patriarchs as the abode of  the endless knot of  Katok’s heart, in later times Zhing(kyong) and Nephew (Trashi Püntsok) tormented (everybody connected with the temple; blo bde zhi med du

byas pa). It was known that the general auspiciousness, and especially that of  Katok’s chief  landlord and patron, the king of  Deg é, was greatly harmed and disturbed. In short, Tsewang Norbu tells the king of  Dege that Nyingon is a place of  great spiritual significance and that the auspiciousness of  the D ege kingdom is influenced to some degree by the state of  the temple. Next we turn to Tsewang Norbu’s account of  another important Katok temple that is in poor condition due to Zhingkyong’s alleged negligence. The Kumbum Ringmo Stūpa Complex

The problems with the Kumbum Ringmo temple were even more grave. 212 Kumbum Ringmo is a long and narrow rectangular building below Katok's main temple and the Nyingön containing large reliquary stūpas that contain the relics of  Katok's founding lamas. As discussed in the In troduction, Mani Rinchen built the

211

Khenpo Ngawang Dorje says that the word rngu must be a family name, though I don’t understand how this relates to Tsewang Norbu’s family. The biographical materials do not state that this is the name of his family or clan. 212

In fact we learn from the autobiography of a later lama – Getsé Penchen – that it was not completely renovated until 1778s. Cf. Getsé Mah ā paṇḍita, Autobiography, 184.

Kumbum Ringmo upon his return from his studies with the treasure revealer

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Guru Chöwang in the thirteenth century. As with the Nyingön, Tsewang Norbu blames Zhingkyong's corruption for all the problems. In a few letters, T sewang Norbu warns of  safeguarding the deteriorating temples against theft. Apparently in old Tibet thieves would prey on monasteries and steal their icons and relics. In one letter, though, Tsewang Norbu ratchets up the claims against Zhingkyong and explicitly blames his poor leadership for the loss of  important relics to theft. He writes to the king of Degé that Zhingkyong,213 has not provided any desperately needed service at all to the Katok main hall. But not only that, since Dampa Deshek's time and through all of  the generations of  lamas  – for almost 700 years  – only minor deteriorations have occurred to the main hall. Unprecedented deteriorations have occurred since he (Drimé Zhingkyong) has occupied the monastic seat. From the past until now the lifting ( blang) of the heart contents ( thugs nang rdzong) of  the supremely blazing, lustrous blessings of  the reliquary stupas of  the successive lamas and patriarchs that is renowned as Kumbum Ringmo was unheard of. (But) these days since (Drimé Zhingkyong) has not been concerned with

213

Ibid., 775; dgos nges kaH thog gi gtsug lag khang la zhabs tog cung zad yang ma byung bar ma zad dam  pa bde gshegs nas sngar bla rabs ji snyed mi lo bdun brgyar nye ba'i ring gtsug lag khang la zhig ral phran  bu las ma byung na kho pa gdan sar bsdad nas zhig ral sngar mi grags yong ba 'di lta dang. de bzhin bla rabs gong ma rim can gyi sku gdung mchod rten sku 'bum ring mor grags pa byin brlabs kyi gzi 'od mchog tu 'bar ba de rnams sngar nas da ltar thugs nang rdzong blang ba ma thos na deng dus bkur sti zhabs tog med pa'i khur rkun bsrung gi do dal tsam yang ma byas nas mtshams med spyod pa la dga' ba'i rkun ma rnams kyi nang rdzong blang… ya re cha.

safeguarding (the stupas) from robbers who are disrespectful and

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rude, thieves who love engaging in the sins of  immediate retribution have taken the contents… How incredible!" Their desecration of  the Kumbum st ūpas would certainly be perceived as a major violation that could result in the loss of auspiciousness and blessing of Katok. To blame Zhingkyong for this is an incendiary claim and certainly bolsters Tsewang Norbu's case for Zhingkyong's overthrow. Not only did Zhingkyong's "criminal negligence" and corruption make Katok vulnerable to thieves who burglarize the Kumbum Ringmo and desacralise the holy reliquary stupas, Tsewang Norbu claims that he also left Katok open to being taken over by usurpers. In several letters he warns in strident tones that Katok is very close to completely losing the last vestiges of  its Kama and monastic heritage. This is another major point in Tsewang Norbu’s dossier against Zhingkyong that he is sharing with the seventh Dalai Lama and the king of Degé. For instance, in a letter to the Seventh Dalai Lama quoted earlier, Tsewang Norbu writes,214 At present, because of the ravages of time, I fear that if Katok is left in its present state ( rang bzhin de gar ) its traditions will be adulterated with the dharma lineages of hypocrites who deceive sentient beings of  the degenerate age, meditation frauds, treasure frauds, heretical treasure revealers, those who have been overwhelmed by demons, and 214

Ibid., 774; da ni dus kyi dbang gi kaH thog 'di rang bzhin de gar gzhag na snyigs dus 'gro ba bslu byed kyi zog po grub rdzun gter rdzun gter log 'dres khyer dam nyams kyi chos rgyud dang 'dres nas nges don snying po'i bstan pa la tshab chen gyi gnod par dogs nas.

those with broken tantric pledges. Thereby t he teachings of  the

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essence of the definitive meaning will be greatly harmed. The Zhamar Incident

The preceding litany of  offenses by Zhingkyong and their terrible repercussions are meant to elicit outrage and a desire to change the leadership at Katok amo ng his audience, i.e., the seventh Dalai Lama and the king of  Dege. Tsewang Norbu also had a plan to install another lama at Katok to revive the older traditions. It is not totally clear whether Tsewang Norbu intended for his selection to usurp Zhingkyong’s authority outright or whether they would share power in some way. Either way the plan was quite bold and Tsewang Norbu actually tried to get a lama of  his choosing installed at Katok in 1752. This section examines the way Tsewang Norbu described his sout ion to the "Zhingkyong problem," looks at the lama he wanted to takeover Katok, and considers why the plan failed. This event had the potential to have been as tramautic an event at Katok as Longsel's arrival. Tsewang Norbu's strategy for changing the sit uation at Katok had as its centerpiece the installation of  the young Zhamar as the new head lama of Katok. In the same letters studied above he discusses this plan and its aftermath with the seventh Dalai Lama, the king of  Degé, and Situ Penchen. In the le tters Tsewang Norbu argues that 1) he himself  is not suitable for the position of  head lama, 2) Zhamar enjoys sufficient moral authority to be accepted at Katok, and 3) there is no sectarian incompatibility between Karma Kagyü and Nyingma, and thus no

incompatibility between Zhamar and Katok traditions. What Tsewang Norbu

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does not explicitly say  – but is tacit to his promotion of  Zhamar  – is that the young Karma Kagyü trülku will restore the original and "pure" Katok traditions. Under the surface is a bigger issue at stake. From one perspective the attacks against Zhingkyong are not primarily about his negligence but about what he represents. Tsewang Norbu claims that Zhingkyong is part of a new and unfortunate epoch at Katok that has broken with the intentions of  monastery's founders. In the past the monastery was run through a system of meritocracy and now bogus trülku's with no learning are gaining their positions of  power at Katok through deception. This is a battle between modes of  succession. Thus the p roblem lies with the hereditary and trülku systems themselves, and Zhingkyong is  just the representative of them. Tsewang Norbu tries to give the impression to his readers that Zhamar can eliminate the problem elements at Katok and usher in a new era of monk scholars at Katok. Below we will look at his claims and then consider an account of  the "incident" given in Situ Penchen's Autobiography. The Right Man for the Job?

Tsewang Norbu's patrons must have wondered why Tsewang Norbu did not simply return from western Tibet and the Himalayas to personally fix the problems at Katok. He is cognizant of this conundrum and addresses it in the letters. His response is predicated on his irrevocable commitment to the wanderer lifestyle and a claim that he does not enjoy enough support at Katok to implement his policies by himself.

The following excerpt is typical of  his self-representation as a wanderer and its

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ramifications for his inclination to return to Katok. He says in a letter to the seventh Dalai Lama, "My lama Sönam Deutsen insisted that I occupy the throne at Katok. But owing to karma I was fixated solely on the wandering lifestyle. Thus I didn't get even a little bit of  time to stay at Katok.” 215 I believe that Tsewang Norbu was also uneasy about returning to the kingdom of  Degé. Powerful Tibetan kings sometimes exercised a lot of  control  – including travel restrictions  – over local lamas and this would have been tremendously unapplealing to Tsewang Norbu. Tsewang Norbu knew about Situ Penchen's obligations to the Degé royal court  – which included frequent visits to the palace, requests for divinations, and rituals  – and it may be surmised that he did not want to be bound by similar ties. Later on in the same letter Tsewang Norbu employs false modesty to further deflect demands that he take care of  Katok himself. He says he does not have the clout at Katok to push through his desired reforms to the monastery. He writes,216 At this time when the Precious Jewels and dharma protectors endowed with the wisdom eye have forsaken it (the monastery), I have thought about how someone like me  – who is a renunciant that spends time in places far from Katok, is of  slight importance and power, and whose 215

Ibid., 763; bdag gi bla ma bsod nams lde'u btsan te/ des bdag kaH thog gi khri la sdod par nan gyi gnang yang las kyi dbang gi rgyal khams kho nar blo rtse gtad pa yi kaH thog cha shas tsam yang sdod rgyu ma  byung. 216

Ibid.; 'di la dkon mchog chos bsrung ye shes spyan ldan rnams kyi ma dgongs tshe bdag lta kaH thog nas sa yul ring po'i gnas su bskal [read bskyal] pa'i bya bral 'khos stobs phra mor gnas pa nam 'chi cha med zhig gi brlabs chen rgyal bstan gyi bya ba ji ltar bgyid snyams nas rang las yin kyang yus [read yul] dkon mchog la 'tshong [read tshangs] dgos.

time of  death uncertain  – could do the work of  the blessed

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teachings of  the Conqueror? If  I tried I would necessarily mishandle (the task). Had he wanted to, earlier in his life Tsewang Norbu certainly could have accrued to himself much power and influence over Katok. After nearly three decades away it is likely that his stature at the monastery had waned some. Unfortunately the responses from the seventh Dalai Lama and the king of  Degé are not preserved in Tsewang Norbu's Collected Writings thus we do not know how they reacted to any of  his claims, least of all his insistence that he was not suited to fix Katok himself and in person. The Unsuccessful Enthronement of Zhamar at Katok

Who did Tsewang Norbu think was best suited to reform Katok, and why? Tsewang Norbu promoted only one candidate to take over Katok, the young Zhamar. Earlier in the chapter it was reported that the young but influential eighth Zhamar Pelchen Chökyi Döndrup ( dpal chen chos kyi don grub; 1695-1732) perished while

en route to China, as did his traveling partner the twelfth Karmapa. The tenth Zhamar Chödrup Gyatso ( chos grub rgya mtsho; 1741-1792) was about twelve years old and living at nearby Pelpung Monastery with Situ Penchen when Tsewang Norbu nominated him to take over Katok. Every letter that Tsewang Norbu sent to his patrons about Zhingkyong’s disastrous reign concludes with an equally forceful call for the installation of  Zhamar on the throne of  Katok ( kaH thog gi khrir mnga' gsol

ba). Tsewang Norbu's selection of  the Zhamar was not arbitrary and therefore

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this section begins with a short account of the close relations between the two lamas, and then proceeds to present Tsewang Norbu's arguments for the Zhamar to take over Katok and concludes with an examination of a first person account of the actual enthronement of Zhamar at Katok made by Situ Penchen. The tenth Zhamar Chödrup Gyatso ( chos grub rgya mtsho) was born in 1742 into the prestigious Tashitsé ( bkra shis rtse) estate in Tsang. His older brother was the third Penchen Lama Pelden Yeshé ( dpal ldan ye shes; 1738 -1780). After the premature (suspiciously so?) death of  the previous Zhamar, whose recognition was contested by an aristocratic family in southern Tibet with their own candidate, Tsewang Norbu and Situ Penchen became more proactive in the recognition process of the next Zhamar. Situ Penchen notes in his  Autobiography that he made his selection in the eight lunar month of 1743 from Pelpung Monastery, and immediately notified Tsewang Norbu and other high-ranking Karma Kagyü lamas. The very next year Situ began preparing for the enthronement, a nd sends more letters about the Zhamar selection to high Kagyü lamas in central Tibet and the king of  Tibet, Pholhané Sönam Topgyel ( pho lha nas bsod nams stobs rgyal; 1689-1747). In 1745 Situ asked the king of Degé for permission to go to central Tibet to take care of the trülku selection process, which involved gaining broader support for his candidate and negotiating with the parents, who were noblemen aligned with the Geluk sect.

124 Based at the Karmapa headquarters of  Tsurpu Monastery ( mtshur phu

dgon), Situ Penchen began over a year of negotiations with Zhamar’s family. 217 Situ recounts a dream he had at the outset of  the negotiations that is obviously symbolic of the fact that there were many barriers to finally gaining custody of  the young Zhamar. In his sleep he saw a life-size statue of  a Buddha and a statue of  Milarepa encased in a crystal, and stuck inside a snake. Anti -Kagyü sectarianism seems to have played a role in the resistance shown by the Tashitsé estate and Tashi Lhunpo monastery in giving up this boy to assume the role of  a Kagyü trülku. Less than a century before, the fifth Dalai Lama defeated the Tsangpa Desí ( gtsang pa sde srid ), ruler of this area, and chased the Desí's Karma Kagyü chaplains around Tibet. Thus when Situ went to Tashi Lhunpo Monastery in the summer of  1747 to finalize the arrangements he made the lamas promise to respect the Kagyü teachings. In 1749 Situ went to Lhasa to meet the new king, Pholhané Gyurmé Namgyel (whose father died the previous year) and ask his permission to return to Degé. Situ reports that the king told him that it would be better if  the Zhamar went with him to Kham. Why would the Zhamar need to go all the way to Degé, far away from his monastery, family and the Karmapa? One answer to this question is that there was a perception on the part of some Karma Kagyü and Lhasa elite that the Zhamar had adversaries in central Tibet who might try to harm him or his office, as may have happened to the ninth Zhamar who died while still a child.

217

For a history of Tsurpu Monastery see Rinchen Pelzang’s  Inventory of Tsurpu Monastery (mtshur phu dgon gyi dkar chag kun gsal me long).

In the summer of  1749 Situ Penchen and the Zhamar departed for Degé.

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They received a royal welcome upon arrival at the capital and then made visits to several different regional monasteries and palaces. The Zhamar settled in at Pelpung while Situ resumed his busy life as court chaplain. For several years Zhamar kept a low profile at Pelpung, participating in seasonal festivals at the Degé court and traveling infrequently. Tsewang Norbu does not say that Zhamar himself  could solve Katok’s management and curricular and liturgical problems. He does not even offer a detailed plan for how Zhamar’s presence at Katok would effect change there. What is said repeatedly is simply that Zhamar would “preserve the marks” ( mtshan skyong) of  Katok's authentic traditions. "Preserve the marks" is not a common locution in Tibetan literature and is not found in any dictionary nor found on the Web. I understand it to be an understated way of saying enact or do. In this way it is similar to tshul bstan pa (to give the appearance of  doing something), as in the 'the Blessed One gave the appearance of  passing into Nirvana' ( bcom ldan 'das myang ngan las

'das pa'i tshul bstan pa ). The Tibetan word mtshan in the phrase mtshan skyong denotes a sign or characteristic and here means the appearances of  traditional acts and values, such as study of  the Kama or monasticism. The second word, skyong, means both the defensive act of  protection and the offensive sense of  sustain and nurture. Here Tsewang Norbu intends the Zhamar to do both; preserve Katok's tradition from completely disappearing and nurture it so that it can make a revival.

As the Zhamar was still relatively young and not yet a proven leader, in

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his promotion of  Zhamar Tsewang Norbu plays up the sanctity and durability of  Zhamar's incarnation lineage. Tsewang Norbu recounts to the Dalai Lama, “When I heard that in the scriptures of  many tertön of  yore there are prophesies by Orgyen Pema saying that Zhamar trülku’s line of  rebirths would span twenty -one (incarnations), I implored him to simply preserve the marks of sitting on the abbatial throne ( khri bzung ba'i mtshan skyong).”218 Futhermore Zhamar is said to be suitable for Katok because he can garner the respect and allegiance of the people. In the same letter Tsewang Norbu writes,219 With respect to the common unbiased wishes of  Katok's monks and patrons, because people follow after fame, therefore certainly everybody will respect a figure like Zhamar Choktrül…. Thus henceforth I think it would be good if after selecting (bsngags) Zhamar to preserve the m arks of  (Katok's) cultural integrity, the concrete responsibility for the monastery should be continuously (chu 'bab nyid 

du) placed with him. Shouldn’t it? Tsewang Norbu’s strategy to import a Karma Kagyü trülku to Katok to reinstate a meritocratic system of  Kama studies and monasticism raises questions 218

Ibid.; zhwa dmar sprul sku'i sku phreng nyi shu rtsa gcig bar 'byung zhes o rgyan pad+ma sngon gyi gter  ston snying pa mang po'i lung du yod par thos na de tshe khong la khri bzung ba'i lar rgya skyong tsam zhig mdzas par gsol nas. 219

Ibid.; kaH thog gi grwa spyi sbyin bdag ris su ma chad pa’i ‘dod mthun du skye bo rnams grags rjes ‘brang ba shas che gshis zhwa dmar mchog sprul lta bu la thams cad mos par nges yang… da cha lar rgya’i mtshan skyong zhwa dmar ba la bsngags nas dgon pa’i khur les dngos gzhi chu ‘bab nyid du gzhag na snyam pas de ltar legs sam.

about sectarian compatibility. Tsewang Norbu goes to great lengths in his letters

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to state that 1) Katok will not be converted to the Kagyü sect and 2) the true Katok lineage is in fact closely wedded to the Karma Kagyü. In a letter to the Dalai Lama Tsewang Norbu emphatically states that Katok will not lose its Nyingma sectarian affiliation and become a Kagyü monastery. “It is impossible that Katok’s Nyingma sectarian tradition will be converted to the Kar( ma Kagyü) tradition” ( kaH thog

rnying ma’i chos lugs kar lugs su ga la bsgyur ).220 The idea that the Katok lineage is intimately bound up with Karma Kagyü figures is historically accurate. In the below excerpt Tsewang Norbu provides a long litany of  names o f Karma Kagyu lamas that have had relations with Katok lamas over the centuries. Tsewang Norbu argues from this that the Zhamar’s arrival at Katok is simply the continuation of  a tradition that dates back to the earliest generations at Katok. Addressed to the king of Degé, he writes,221

220

Ibid., 774. As the Zhamar could not be successfully installed on the throne I assume that Tsewang  Norbu was not able to effectively convey this point to the lamas and monks at Katok. 221

Ibid., 773; kaH dam pa bde gshegs pa de dus dus gsum sangs rgyas kyi sprul par zhal gyi gzhes shing khyad par ma ‘ongs bskal pa skar ma bkram pa lta bur rdzogs pa’i sangs rgyas tshe dpag med du sangs rgya  bar mi ‘jig bden pa’i tshig gi gsung ba sa bcu’i mgon po nyid du grub pa de ni dpal phag mo grub pa dang ma spun ngo thog yin/ …gzhan yang ma gcig zha ma sogs gsar rnying ris su ma chad pa’i bla ma mang du  brten/ lam ‘bras sogs man ngag gi bka’ lung dang/ bde mchog dges rdor/ gdan gzhi sogs gsang sngags gsar  ma’i rgyud la yang gsan pa shin tu che/ phag mo grub pa dang phar slob tshur slob mdzad/ kar+ma dus gsum mkhyen pa’i tshes bcu’i tshogs mchod byin brlabs kyi dpa’ bo mkha’ ‘gro tshim tshul la dgyes pas dbang bskur gsan te rjes sngar mched grogs pis slob ma gshegs pa’i ‘og tu kaH thog gi gdan sar rgyal tshabs su gyur pa gtsang ston ‘gro ba’i mgon po dang/ ‘gro mgon sangs rgyas ras chen thugs yid gcig tu ‘dres te ‘gro mgon ras chen gyi/ gtsang ston la rdzogs chen gyi chos kyang mang du gsan pa grags che/ gtsang ston gyi gdan sa ba byams ‘bum dang rgyal sras spot brag pa dag thugs yid gcig ‘dres yin/ dial kar+ma pak+shi’i kyang bsnyen rdzogs zhu sa spyan snga byams pa ‘bum la mdzad mdo rgyud sems kyi chos kyang mang du gsan/ rje mi bskyod zhabs kyi dus mkhyen nas kar+ma pak+shi’i bar don brgyud kyi chu bo dam gtsang byams gsum ‘dren ‘os zhes gsung tsher lung drung pa kun dga’ rnam rgyal gyi kaM tshang bsnyan brgyud chos ‘byung du bris snang kaH thog nam mkha’ rdo rjes akr+ma pa rol pa’i rdo rje la rdzogs chen mkha’ ‘gro snying thig gi khrid zhus de yi brgyud pa ni las ‘bral rtsal nas rgyal sras legs ldan rang byung rdo rje sngags ‘chang g.yung ston/ des rol pa’i rdo rje yin/ de’i dbang lung gi rgyu yang ma

Dampa Déwarshekpa– who was accepted as an emanation of  the

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buddhas of  the three times, in particular is claimed by indestructible words of  truth to (be destined to) attain enlightenment as the perfect buddha Amit āyus in the future eon Like Scattered Stars, and who became a protector (dwelling) on the tenth ground  – was an actual maternal cousin of glorious Pakmodrüpa. …Furthermore he also relied on many lamas who did not differentiate between the New and Old schools, such as Machik Zhama. 222 (Dampa Deshek) also studied a great number of  New School oral traditions of  practice instruction, such as the Lamdré, and New School tantras, including Sa ṁvara, Hevajra, and Catuhpitha. He exchanged teachings with Pakmodrüpa. He rejoiced at the way the heroes and ḍākin ī s were satisfied by the blessings of  one of  Karmapa Düsum Khyenpa's Tenth Day feast offerings, and then took initiations (from the Karmapa). Thus Dampa was first a spiritual peer (of the Karmapa's) and later his disciple. After (Dampa) passed away the protector of transmigrators Tsangtön (Dorjé Gyeltsen) became the regent of  Katok. He and (the Karma Kagyü

chad par grags che zhing kho bos kyang khum/ des na kaH thog kaM tshang gdod nas bstan rgyun gcig tu gnas pa nas sngar ye nas ma ‘dres pa zhig nges kyi blo bzos gsar du bsres pa min. 222

ma gcig zha ma (1062-1149). Davidson, Tibetan Renaissance , 150, says, "[Zhama-lotsāwa's] sister,

Zhama Machik, became a notable figure in the history of the Lamdré and was representative of the position that Tibetan women sometimes could hold, in contrast to the greater difficulties experienced by Indian women." See also Ibid., 291-293, 'Gos Lo-ts ā-ba Gźon-nu-dpal and Roerich, The Blue Annals, 220-226 and Lo Bue, "A case of mistaken identity: Ma-gcig Labs-sgron and Ma-gcig Zha-ma."

lama) Drogön Sangyé Réchen's

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minds mixed as one. It is well

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known that Drogön Réchen studied Great Perfection under Tsangtön. Tsangtön's acting resident in chief ( gdan sa pa) Jampabum and Gyelsé Pomdrakpa (another Karma Kagyü lama) 224 became of  one mind. The glorious Karma Pakshi

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received full ordination from Chennga

Jampabum. Tserlung Drungpa Kunga Namgyel 226 wrote in his History of the Karma Kamtsang Aural Lineage (kaM tshang snyan brgyud chos

'byung) that Lord Mikyö Shap227 declared that between Düsum Kyenpa and Karma Pakshi the river of  the transmission of  the ultimate meaning ( don brgyud ) did pass through Dam(pa), Ts ang(tön), and Jampa('bum). Katok Namkha Dorjé 228 bestowed the instruction for the Dzokchen Khandro Nyingthik on Karmapa Rolpé Dorjé.229 The lineage

223

'gro mgön sangs rgyas ras chen (1148-1218); He was a student of the Karmapa Düsum Khyenpa.

224

The third Karmapa Rangjung Dorjé ( rang byung rdo rje ; 1284-1339) composed a short biography of  Pomdrakpa ( spom brag pa); 'gro mgon ras pa chen po dang rin po che spom brag pa'i rnam thar, 244.5255.4. 225

kar+ma pak+Shi (1204-1283), the second Karmapa. For more on his life and thought see Kapstein, The Tibetan Assimilation of Buddhism , 97-106. 226 227

tsher lun drung pa kun dga' rnam rgyal  (b. 16th century). I do not know if this work is extant. mi bskyod rdo rje (1507-1554), the eight Karmapa

228

nam mkha' rdo rje and his student Meshö Sangyé Dorjé ( rme shod sangs rgyas rdo rje; 15th century) composed one or more manuals on the  Innmermost Spirituality of the  Ḍākinī  s (Khandro Nyingthik; mkha'  'gro snying thig ). Unfortunately they are no longer extant. See Jamyang Gyeltsen,  A Brief History of Katok , 56-58. 229

rol pa'i rdo rje (1340-1383), The fourth Karmapa

for those (instructions were transmitted) from Lendreltsel

230

to

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Gyalsé Lekde 231 to Rangjung Dorjé 232 to Ngakchang Yun gtön,233 and from him (Namka Dorjé) to Rolpé Dorjé. It is well known that the initiation and reading transmission for this are unbroken. I too have received them. Therefore the Katok and Kamtsang teachings lines have abided as one since the earliest days. It is not the case that these two were not originally mixed and that I have newly blended them in an artificial way. 234 Tsewang Norbu also wrote directly to the young Karma Kagyü heirarch to give Zhamar confidence about the viability of  his attempt to take an active role at Katok. The letter states,235

230

pad+ma las 'brel rtsal (b. 1248) was the treasure discover of the Innermost Spirituality of the D ākin ī s cycle. For more see Ibid., 47-50. 231

rgyal sras legs ldan sho rgyal sras legs pa (b. 13 th cent.) was a student of the Tertön Lendreltsel.

232

rang byung rdo rje (1284-1339), The third Karmapa

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sngags 'chang g.yung ston (1284-1365).

234

At different periods in its history Katok has had close relations with other Kagyü sects and subsects as well. For instance, Katok's relations with the Martsang ( smar tshang ) Kagyü sect were very important. At a certain point Katok’s Mahāmudr ā teachings became mixed with those of the Martsang Kagyü and this tradition was enshrined in Yeshé Gyeltsen’s Ocean of Mahāmudr ā Oral Instructions ( phyag chen man ngag rgya mtsho ). For more on the little-known school see the Compilation of Biographies of the Lamas of  the Martsang Kagyü. It contains multiple references to relations between its lamas and those of Katok  Monastery. 235

Tsewang Norbu, Collected Letters, 767; snga ‘gyur gyi ring lugs kaH thog gi lta grub dang dpal kar+ma kaM tshang pa chen po’i ring lugs gnas na dbyer med du grub bzhin slad nas kyang kaH thog gi seng ge’i khrir gdan chags shing ‘od gsal rdo rje snying po’i ston pa dang/ snying po phyir mi ldog pa ‘khor lo’i gtam/ gnyug ma rlung sems dbyer med gdams pa rnams gcig tu bskyang nas mtha’ yas pa’i sems can rnams nyer ‘tshor rgyal bstan ji srid kyi bar du gnas pa snying nas gsol ba ‘debs pa.

As it is established that the Katok view and practice of  the

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Nyingma tradition and the tradition of  the glorious and great Karma Kamtsang are indivisible, hereafter I sincerely supplicate you to establish your seat (gdan chags) on Katok's lion throne and maintain as one the teachings of  the essence of  adamantine clear light [i.e., Dzokchen], the sayings of the irreversible wheel of the essence (snying

 po  phyir mi ldog pa 'khor lo'i gtam), and the instructions on th e indivisibility of the fundamental wind and fundamental mind [a Kagyü teaching], thereby sustaining limitless sentient beings for as long as the victor's teachings remain. Reviewing Tsewang Norbu’s letters to the Dalai Lama, King of  Degé, Situ Penchen, a nd Zhamar himself, it appears that this would-be reformer at Katok was trying to solve two different problems with the same solution. Regarding the first problem, Tsewang Norbu was concerned about the state of Katok during his time. He feared that with the loss of the Katok's "cultural integrity" ( lar rgya; i.e., the Kama, meritocratic system of  promotion through scholarship, and and monastic discipline) the monastery suffered under an inferior lama who neglected the upkeep of  the temples and  jeopardized th e existence of  the old traditions, which were already considerably weakened. This has been covered above. The second problem that Tsewang Norbu was trying to solve by installing the Zhamar at Katok was finding a home base for the Zhamar Rinpoche in Kham because he was not welcome or safe in Central Tibet. Tsewang Norbu apparently thought a Zhamar administration at Katok

would be mutually beneficial to the monastery and Zhamar. In other words,

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Tsewang Norbu tried to kill two birds with one stone. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the plan failed. As mentioned above, the letters excerpted above were written after the attempted enthronement of  Zhamar at Katok. The letters restate the case (perhaps even exaggerate it) and try to encourage the Dalai Lama and king of  Degé to continue to support Tsewang Norbu's campaign. Historians are fortunate that these very illuminating documents are complemented by Situ Penchen's own autobiographical record of the event. Situ Penchen, of course, was Zhamar's primary custodian and partic ipated fully in the enthronement ceremony at Katok. Nevertheless his  Autobiography was finalized long after the enthronement and Tsewang Norbu's death, yet is a crucial source for the study of this event. Fortunately it mentions the logistics of  the event and gives some clues as to the identity of  the dissenters. Furthermore Situ’s  Autobiography makes it clear that there was personal fallout from the event for Situ. Later in Chapter Three, moreover, we will examine Situ's portrayal of  Zhingkyong and apprais e the dramatic differences in his understanding of Zhingkyong's character and monastic status. In the summer of  1752 (late seventh lunar month) Situ Penchen and Zhamar were visiting the Dzachu ( rdza chu) highlands, the northern nomadic regions of  Degé, when a delivery person sent by Tsewang Norbu arrived at their camp bearing a letter and ceremonial scarves. The letter ordered Zhamar to go to Katok for

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enthronement ( khrir pheb).

Situ and Zhamar stay a couple more weeks in

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Dzachukha, visiting Washul and Getsé, and then head directly for Katok. Situ's account of Zhamar's enthronement is as follows,237 We arrived at Katok on the thirteenth day (of the eighth lunar month), together with the welcoming parties of the fort chief and various honor guards (?; spel mda'). In the assembly hall Zhingkyong gave presents on the occasion of  the enthronement ( khri 'bul) and there were good omens about (Zhamar) making his home in the lama's residence. Presents on the occasion of the enthronement were given on behalf  of  the Degé (court) by Lhundrup and Tsering Tashi. (At the ceremony) monks from Rongpo (Nyakrong?) and Golok ( 'gu log) misconstrued (go ba gzhan rgyab; the significance of  the enthronement) and displayed some disgruntlement. Yet due to Zhingkyong's unwavering intention, at least the auspiciousness was not derailed. The next day fumigation and protector rites were carried out. Then a tour of  the monastery and distribution of  offerings were made; prayers for the expansion of  the Karma Kagyü and Nyingma teachings were made; 236

Situ Penchen, Autobiography and Diaries, 311.3; rig 'dzin chen po'i bka' ltar zhwa dmar mchog sprul kaH thog gi khrir pheb dgos pa'i mgul dar phul. 237

Ibid., 312.1; rdzong dpon dang spel mda' khag gi thab bsu bcas tshes bcu gsum la kaH thog rdo rje gdan du 'byor/ 'du khang du zhing skyong nas khri 'bul mdzad bla brang du bzhugs gnas ltas legs/ sde dges lhun grub dang tshe ring bkra shis nas khri 'bul byas/ rong po dang 'gu log sogs kyi gra pa rnams kyis go ba gzhan rgyab nas gtsub nyams [read rtsub nyams] cung zad bstan byung mod zhing skyong rang thugs g.yo 'gul med par bzhugs pa'i dbang gis rten 'byung ma 'phyugs tsam byung song/ phyi nyin bsangs dang bskang gso tshugs/ mchod 'jal dang mchod 'bul dang kar rnying gi bstan pa rgyas pa'i smon lam btab/ sgrol ma maN+Dal cho ga dang bskang gso btang/ dpal yul ba'i bla gra rnams byon khri 'bul gyi legs tshogs byung/ nor bu bstan pa spyi dbang byas/ dkon mchog spyi 'dus kyi tshogs brgya dang bskang gso btang/ btegs.

and a T ārāma ṇḍala ritual and protector rites were done. Lamas

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and monks of  Pelyul came and their offering on the occasion of  the enthronement went very well. I gave the General Initiation to the Jeweled Teachings238 and we made the offering of the multitudes of the

dkon mchog spyi 'dus and protector rites (312.1). Thus Tsewang Norbu actually tried to enact his strategy to restore Katok's cultural integrity at Katok. Even though the historical record preserves his letters and Situ's firsthand account of  this inciden t, many questions are left unanswered. For example, to what degree were Situ and the Degé royal court supportive of Zhamar's enthronement at Katok? Situ was certainly a key figure in helping Tsewang Norbu actually carry out his plan. This account is fairly self-explanatory. The reasons why the enthronement did not succeed are less clear. Situ suggests that Zhingkyong was somewhat supportive of Zhamar's installation and that the culprits responsible for derailing the ceremony were just some insolent monks. However we may speculate what the deeper causes behind the unsuccessful ritual were. For one, the monks and administration at Katok may have been genuinely worried about a forced or erosive conversion to the Kagyü sect. As Situ Penchen was the most powerful lama in Degé at the time this was not a completely unfounded worry. Another possible reason for why the Zhamar was not accepted at Katok is that Tsewang Norbu had less clout than Drimé Zhingkyong. The 238

The nor bu bstan pa spyi dbang bya thabs chos spyod bcu nyams su len tshul dang bcas pa bstan pa'i tshal 'byed was written by the fifth Situ Rinpoché Chökyi Gyeltsen the latter (chos kyi rgyal mtshan phyi ma). This work is collected in the Anthology of S ādhanas (sgrub thabs kun btus; vol. 5, pp. 111-122).

latter actually lived at Katok and came from a much more illustrious lineage; he

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was the reincarnation of  Longsel Nyingpo's son. Tsewang Norbu, to the contrary, had not been at Katok in almost thirty years and could not possibly have as many supporters at Katok as did Zhingkyong. Perhaps Tsewang Norbu had actually made enemies at Katok when he refused to accede to his master Sönam Deutsen's request that he take the throne at Katok. Tsewang Norbu had been invested with the title Katok Rindzin ( vidyādhara) but he never lived up the expectations placed in him by the lamas of Katok. Thus at this late date it is not surprising that – from afar – he was unable to rally enough support for his audacious plan to enthrone Zhamar at Katok. The primary reason that Tsewang Norbu's plan failed, however, must be that the vas t majority of  lamas and monks at Katok did not share his overwhelming concern for the restoration of  the Kama and rule by monks. Tsewang Norbu did make a strong case about the "original" Katok tradition being characterized by monasticism, a meritocratic system of succession, and a rigorous scholarly program. Nevertheless his inability to convince others of his judgements about the current state of Katok and the feasibility of  his "solution" indicates that the decision makers at Katok did not agree with him. The usurpation of  the Kama by Longsel Nyingpo's treasures and the ascendancy of  reincarnate, hereditary, and non -celibate lamas apparently was not not an undesirable state of  affairs to many lamas and monks of  Katok Monastery in the mid-eighteenth century. If  this theory is correct then it can be concluded that during Zhingkyong's reign the changes implemented by Longsel and those that occurred as an outgrowth of  his impact on the monastery were still

enjoying preeminence at Katok. Using their methods Tsew ang Norbu, Situ

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Penchen, and Zhamar were unable to upset the new order at Katok. Conclusion

In the middle of the eighteenth century Tsewang Norbu was deeply concerned about Katok’s current state. In a series of  libelous letters he spelled out his understanding of  the original Katok traditions of  a meritocratic mode of  succession of ordained abbots, the central role of the Kama, and close relations with the Kagyü sect (especially the Karma Kagyü). Tsewang Norbu also strongly criticized the recent “devolutio n” from this earlier state. He blames the downturn in moral, scholastic, and managerial standards on the reign of  the current head of  Katok, Drimé Zhingkyong, but also implies that corruption is inevitable when scholastic meritocracy is replaced with hereditary and trülku-based modes of succession of the monastery’s leadership. The next chapter will reveal that Tsewang Norbu’s criticism’s of Zhingkyong were greatly exaggerated, yet his assessment of the loss of  studies and practice of the Kama is valid as well as his complaint about some of the key temples being in disrepair. His proposed solution, however, was ill conceived and was not accepted by the lamas and monks at Katok. The Zhamar incident is a little -known moment in Katok’s history but it reveals much about the situation of Katok in the middle of the eighteenth century and the first stirrings of reform. Thirty years after Tsewang Norbu’s death reforms were made to Katok that Tsewang Norbu would have mostly agreed with. Ironically, they

were initiated by a trülku of Katok monastery recognized by Drimé Zhingkyong

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named Getsé Tsewang Chokdrup. He did reinstate the centrality of Kama studies and liturgies, but did so in a synthetic way that also preserved a prominent place at Katok for Dündul Dorjé’s and Longsel Nyingpo’s treasures and enshrined the many new trülku lines at the head of the administration. This organic resolution to the problems pointed out by Tsewang Norbu continues to be the dominant blueprint for the administration of  the monastery and its liturgical, contemplative, and scholastic programs.

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Chapter Three: Mid Eighteenth-Century Katok: The Supremacy of Trülkus and Longsel's Treasures, and the Revival of Celibate Monasticism

Chapter Two considered Tsewang Norbu's pessimistic view of Katok's recent history, defamatory claims against Zhingkyong, and failed attempt to install an associate in a leadership role at Katok in the early 1750s. In his letters, Tsewang Norbu placed all the blame for the monastery’s “degeneration” on a specific lama (Zhingkyong) and suggested an equally simplistic solution to the loss of  Katok’s authentic traditions in the form of the appointment of Zhamar to lead the monastery. The current chapter examines this period from a much broader point of view, which contextualizes these issues in terms of  the true diversity and power of  internal and external factors that exerted influence on Katok during the early and mid-eighteenth century. We will see that during this period there was institutional ferment occurring at Nyin gma and Kagyü monasteries all over Degé, not  just at Katok. Here I will focus on four major points that are especially salient for understanding the changes that occurred at Katok in the eighteenth century: the rise of  trülkus, revival of  celibate monastic ism, the popularity of  classical learning, and the ascendancy of  Mindrölling Monastery’s teachings. Furthermore, against this general backdrop, I will examine the Katok-specific issue of  the preeminence of  the Longsel Nyingpo

revelations in its religious programs. After first examining the development and

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significance of  these issues as they developed outside of  Katok, the chapter concludes with a look at the early years of Getsé Mah āpaṇḍita, a Katok lama whose life embodies these changes. Dzokchen Monastery: Reincarnated Lamas and Printing at the Degé Printing House

This chapter will begin with an examination of Dzokchen Monastery, another central Nyingma monastery patronized by the Degé Kingdom and whose lamas had close relations with Katok figures such as Longsel Nyingpo and Sönam Deutsen. The last chapter demonstrated that in the first half of the eighteenth century reincarnated lamas at Katok came to supersede the power of the scholar lamas and even the blood descendants of Longsel Nyingpo. Drimé Zhingkyong was the chief representative of  this type of lama. Dzokchen Monastery also saw a rapid rise of reincarnated lamas at this same time. Yet in terms of participation in mid-eighteenth-century Degé’s most important royal project  – publications at the new royal Printing Press  – Dzokchen Mnastery was ahead of  the curve. Exploring a neighboring monastery during the same period as considered in the last chapter will allow us to see that many of  the issues at Katok about which Tsewang Norbu complained were broader sociological trends in Degé rather than the result of one person’s mismanagement.239

239

The primary source for this section about Dzokchen Monastery is the  Index (dkar chag; hereafter,  Index of the Seven Treasuries ) to the second Dzokchen Rinpoché's publication of Longchenpa's Seven Treasuries . The author is the Second Shechen Ranjam, Gyurmé Kunzang Namgyel ( zhe chen rab 'byams 'gyur med kun

Pema Rindzin, the first Dzokchen Rinpoché, founded Dzokchen in 1685

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and died in 1697. 240 As stated in Chapter One, Pema Rindzin was most likely a noncelibate master and soon after founding Dzokchen he requested the younger treasure revealer Nyima Drakpa – another non-monk – to take over the abbacy of the see. The latter refused the post and upon Pema Rindzin's death his other successors found and enthroned his reincarnation. The monastery is located in the highlands of  northeast Degé and fell within the zone of  influence of  the kingdom. 241 This region was also under the control to varying degrees of  the Right Banner (Barunagar) of  the Oirat Mongols.242 The Right Banner was the branch of  the Oirat Mongol federation previously ruled by Longsel Nyingpo’s patron Khandro Lobsang Tenkyong. Khandro had settled in nearby Dzachuka to the north of  Dege but was assassinated by relatives in part for his conversion to the Nyingma sect. His younger brother Darkhan succeeded him and was apparently very powerful in much of  Amdo and bzang rnam rgyal ; 1713-1769), a younger brother and disciple of the Second Dzokchen Rinpoché. This is

the earliest known source for the history of Dzokchen Monastery. Although this work was published in India thirty years ago with a descriptive English title western scholars of Nyingma and Eastern Tibetan history have largely overlooked this text. As will be seen below this work is an informative document for  the study of later Nyingma literature, Nyingma institutions in Eastern Tibet, and publications in Degé during the mid-eighteenth century heyday of editing and printing in the kingdom. The Indian reprint edition of the Seven Treasuries’ Index spans one-hundred and fifty-eight sides and is comprised of four chapters ( spyi don). The third chapter contains a biography of the second Dzokchen Rinpoché Gyurmé Thekchok  Tendzin (1699-1758), and his previous incarnations. The relevant material for this section will be culled from the biography of the second Dzokchen Rinpoché, whose life spans the post-Longsel period with which we are concerned. 240

See his biography in Ngawang Lodrö, Guru Trashi's History , 766-786.

241

The monastery lies in present-day Dzokchen Township (Zhuqing xiang 竹), Khorlondo District ('khor lo mdo chus; Keluodong qu 柯洛洞), Degé County. 242

Ricard, The Life of Shabkar , 565. On the same page Ricard describes the banners as follows, "The Mongolian nation was divided into a series of principalities or 'banners' (Tib . dpon khag , Mong. khoshun). Each was ruled by a Jasag ( ja sag , pronounced dzasa by Tibetans), who could belong to any of the various ranks of the Mongolian nobility…." Over thirty such banners lived in the Kokonor area.

Kham, including the Degé area. In the 1730s king Tenpa Tsering challenged the

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Oirat Mongols for supremacy in the area and drove them from the areas around Dzokchen Monastery.243 Dzokchen and Katok monasteries can be differentiated in terms of  their commitments to the Nyingma Kama literary and ritual tradition. Being a newly established monastery, Dzokchen was not burdened with having to negotiate changes in relationship to a long history, a self -image evolved over generations, and a complex array of  prior traditions. In this sense, Dzokchen's situation was quite different from that of  Katok, which saw itself  as closely linked to Kama study and ritual for historical and traditional reasons. Rather, Dzokchen's founder Pema Rindzin, and thus his newly established monastery as well, were products of the late seventeenth century Nyingma tradition with its heavy emphasis on treasure practices. He did receive select, Kama initiations, such as the S ūtra Empowerment ( mdo

dbang), but his primary commitments were to the treasures and Dzokchen meditation. Pema Rindzin and his reincarnations were closely associated with the fourteenth century treasure cycle the Innermost Spirituality of  the Ḍākin ī s ( mkha'

'gro snying thig) cycle.244

243

Kolmaš, A Genealogy of the Kings of Derge , 37 and 118. The latter page number refers to the location in the Tibetan text where it mentions his defeat of the local Oirat king. The text reads, "By the power of (the Degé king's) excellent merit, the evil power of the Oirat king – who is from the backwoods – came to work  against him and (now) only the name (of the tribe) remains" (mchog gi bsod nams stobs kyis mtha' yi mi/ ur  lod rgyal po'i ngan stobs rang gshed du/ gyur nas ming gi lhag ma nyid du gyur ). 244

Dahl, Great Perfection, xi.

Dzokchen’s mode of succession was similarly hybrid and not complicated

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by prior commitments to one modality or another. Pema Rindzin was a close associate of Treasure revealer Nyima Drakpa (gter ston nyi ma grags pa ; 1647-1710) and once Dzokchen had been founded, Pema Rindzin asked the younger Nyima Drakpa to serve as its abbot. 245 Nyima Drakpa initially accepted the offer but then withdrew his acceptance, citing prophesies from certain Treasures. In fact, after Pema Rindzin’s passing in 1697 he was again pressed to take over the monastery and again refused. Dzokchen Pönlop ( rdzogs chen dpon slob) instead took the helm at Dzokchen after Pema Rindzin's passing. Dzokchen Pönlop Namkha Ösel (nam mkha'

'od gsal) was from Kham and in his youth was involved in some violent ritual activity and also studied tantric practices under a Kagyü lama. He met Pema Rindzin when he was practicing at various pilgrimages spot in Central Tibet. He was not a monk.246 After Pema Rindzin’s death, his “reincarnation” was identified and brought to the monastery as young child. Perhaps it is not a coincidence that a child of an Oirat Mongol was recognized as the second Dzokchen Rinpoché. 247 Furthermore, all three 245

This story is recounted in detail in Cuevas,  Hidden History of the Tibetan Book of the Dead, 195.

246

See Ngawang Lodrö, Guru Trashi's History, 784-787, for a detailed biography of him; Cf. Luntok  Tenpé Nyima,  Abbatial Succession of Dzokchen Monastery , 331-333. 247

The account of his birth and genealogy in the Seven Treasuries' Index reads, “He was born into the family line (rigs) of the bdag gnyer 'tsho skyong  (manager of livelihoods?) of the sons of king Kunga Déching (rgyal po kun dga' da'i chings), Nomachi Téji (no ma chi tha'i ji), and others. In their native language (the family line) is called Darkhan Urluk (dar khan ur lug ). They branch off from one section of  the forty nomadic groups ( tsho pa) of Oirats (under) the leader of the White Tent, who are based along the Da River valley ( zla klung );” Seven Treasuries' Index , p. 88.3; byang phyogs zla klung gi 'gram du gur dkar   po'i bdag po/ o rod tsho pa bzhi bcu'i nang tshan las gyes pa/ rgyal po kun dga' da'i chings dang/ no ma chi tha'i ji la sogs pa'i sras kyi bdag gnyer 'tsho skyong pa la yul skad du dar khan ur lug tug rags pa'i rigs su.

of the other founding masters of  Dzokchen  – Nyima Drakpa, Zhechen Ranjam,

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and Dzokchen Pönlop  – spawned reincarnation lineages that remained closely involved with Dzokchen over the generations. 248 Thus we see that at Dzokchen the initial mode of  succession was fluid but within a generation consolidated around a trülku-based model of abbatial succession. We now turn to the topic of Dzokchen lamas and the royal court at Degé. The apparently well-connected second Dzokchen Rinpoché was the first Nyingma lama to publish texts at the new Degé Printing House (sde dge par khang) during an era of  massive publishing endeavors in Degé. In 1755 the second Dzokchen Rinpoche published Longchenpa's Seven Treasuries and other writings in a four-volume set. 249 By the time that Dzokchen Rinpoché planned to produce this new edition of  these works, the royal court had already published the Kangyur, Tengyur, and the

Collected Works of the Sakya Masters (sa skya bka' 'bum ) through the same publishing house. However, no notable collection of Nyingma writings had yet been

248

The Nyima Drakpa and Ponlop trulku’s both made Dzokchen their primary seats and the second Zhechen Ranjam founded founded his own monastery close to Dzokchen. 249

The Degé edition of Longchenpa's Seven Treasuries contains four volumes of Longchenpa's writing and the  Index by the second Shechen Ranjam Rinpoché. The contents include all seven of his major Dzokchen treatises, the so-called Treasuries, his commentary on the Guhyagarbha Tantra , and his Trilogy of Comfort  and Ease . The detailed catalog of each volume is found in the  Index to the Seven Treasuries, 126-130. The  Index states that the editorial team began in 1753, headed by Zhuchen with two assistants from the  Nyingma hermitage of Muksang. After the editors had finalized their edition of the collection, eighteen scribes and over three hundred carvers labored to create the woodblocks for all four volumes. In total, the entire endeavor including editing, carving, and composition of the index took over two years and was completed in the spring of 1755. The  Index even names the King Lodrö Püntsok ( blo gros phun tshogs ) as the supervisor (do dam pa) of the operation. Zhuchen also wrote benedictory verses and a printing colophon ( par byang ) in which he confirms his role as editor of the Seven Treasuries . The fourth Dzokchen Rinpoché Mingyur Namkha Dorjé (mi 'gyur nam mkha'i rdo rje; 1793-1870) commissioned a revised edition of the Degé edition of the Seven Treasuries –  in five volumes – in the middle of the nineteenth century.

committed to wo odblocks at the prestigious Degé Printing House. Dzokchen

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Rinpoché was no doubt aware of  this lacuna. At this time being associated with a publishing project at the royal printing house was a marker of very high status in the upper echelons of the Degé religious scene. The second Dzokchen Rinpoché’s ability to participate in a project at the Printing House speaks to his high standing with the royal court. Furthermore, the lama's hagiography was immortalized in the newly reprinted collection's  Index, which t he Publishing House still maintains in print to this day. Even though the second Dzokchen Rinpoché was the publisher and the second Ranjam wrote the  Index, neither were the chief  editors of  their edition of  the Seven

Treasuries. Instead, the head editor of  the collection was the Sakya master Zhuchen Tsultrim Rinchen ( zhu chen tshul khrims rin chen).250 On the face of  it he was an unexpected choice due to being from a different sect, but perhaps he was asked because he possessed famed editing skills greatly superior to any of  the Nyingma lamas in the region. Yet he was not an acknowledged expert in Nyingma literature and thought, which feature many terms and doctrines not found in Sarma texts or the ś astras of  the Tengyur with which he was most familiar.

However, another

explanation is more likely, namely that Shuchen was asked to be the person responsible for editing the content of this collection because without his endorsement it would have encount ered resistance from anti -Nyingma partisans in the Sakya -

250

Jackson,  A History of Tibetan Painting, ch. 12, gives a sketch of Zhuchen's life and relations with the Degé royal court.

145 influenced court. I find it implausible that no local Nyingma lama was capable of  editing the texts, and suspect that the Dzokchen lamas decided they would have more success executing this project if the Sakya court chaplain was centrally involved. The fact that Zhuchen was the chief editor of the Seven Treasuries suggests to me that in the mid -eighteenth century Nyingma lamas did not yet have the cachet to singlehandedly execute publication projects at the Degé Printing House. This is not to say that the court did not generally support Nyingma institutions and cults, such as in the founding of  Dzokchen Monastery itself. Yet the central role of  Zhuchen in the publication of  the Seven Treasuries sugges ts there was still a glass ceiling, so to speak, when it came to Nyingma lamas being chief  editors at the Printing House. This state of  affairs would change dramatically in the next generation when the Katok lama Getsé Mah āpaṇḍita became the chief  editor for publications of  much larger Nyingma collections at the Printing House. Foremost among his editorial efforts was the Degé edition of  the Collected Tantras of the Ancients in twenty-five volumes. This brief  examination o f Dzokchen Monastery has shown that reincarnate lamas were on the ascendancy in the eighteenth century not only at Katok. Although Tsewang Norbu found it to be an aberration for Katok, these trülkus have retained their high statuses at the Nyingma monasteries in Degé to the present. In the previous chapter I pointed out that prior to the eighteenth century, reincarnate lamas were not the dominant mode of succession in elite Nyingma religious communities, including communities that developed around Treasure revealers. Family lines centered on a

biologically transmitted spiritual charisma were much more prominent than the

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non-biological reincarnate lines among the Nyingma. Perhaps an impetus for the growth of trülkus at both Dzokchen and Katok (and Pelyül too) was a demand from Degé royal court for a regularized mode of succession over which they could exert a degree of  control. In the next section we will turn to another major development in institutional religion in Kham that influenced Katok, the revival of  celibate monasticism. Situ Penchen and His Monastic Revival in Eighteenth-Century Kham

A key but underappreciated facet of  mid -eighteenth century religion in Degé, and Kham more broadly, was the revival of celibate monasticism in Kagyü and Nyingma monasteries. The primary lama behind the expansion of celibate monasticism at this time was Situ Penchen ( si tu paN chen chos kyi ‘byung gnas; 1700-74). He directed some of  his efforts towards ordaining Katok lamas and monks, and to this day is recognized by Katok as the source of  their current ordination line. 251 In this section we will chronicle his life -long endeavor to ordain monks in Kham, highlight the numerous times he gave ordination to large numbers of new monks in the Katok and Pelyül communities, and analyze the contents of his monastic customaries ( bca' yig). In fact, Drimé Zhingkyong took full ordination under Situ Penchen and encouraged

251

Khenpo Sönam Tenpa, personal communication, 2006.

other Katok monks to also ordain as celibate monks. Contrary to what Tsewang

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Norbu wrote in his letters, Zhingkyong was actually a monastic reformer at Katok. Situ Penchen was the leading religious figure in eighteenth-century Degé and the chief  lama of  the Karma Kagyü sect for many decades in the middle of  the century. Few activities recur in Situ Penchen's  Autobiography as often as monastic ordinations. In his life story, Situ documented dozens of ordinations, often noting the names of important ordinands and the number of monks at nearly every ceremony.252 These records are a testament to Situ's lifelong mission to propagate monasticism at Kagyü and Nyingma monasteries in Kham. Situ Penchen's decades of  tirelessly officiating over ordination ceremonies throughout Kham had a profound impact at large monasteries such as Katok. I contend that Situ's widespread and longterm efforts to ordain hundreds and hundreds of monks rises to the level of a campaign or revival movement. Were Situ more self-reflective about his concerns and projects then he may have actually stated that this was a core concern of his. Following the conventions of  the genre of the outer autobiography made popular by the fifth Dalai Lama, Situ was very impersonal and episodic in his diary -like  Autobiography. Janet Gyatso says these works tend to "recount one experience or deed after another, with little explicit 252

Many years ago Gene Smith wrote a groundbreaking introduction to his  Autobiography that covers the intellectual features of Situ’s time period and his prominent role in it (this work has been reprinted as Chapter seven in Smith,  Among Tibetan Texts). Smith also gives an account of the composition of the work. He notes that the work is a compilation of a partial autobiography covering Situ’s life up until the end of his 25 th year (by Tibetan counting) and Belo Tsewang Kunkhyab’s treatment of Situ’s “diaries” for  the remaining 50 years. However, as Smith says (93), the transition between these heterogeneous parts is “seamless.”

linkage or sense of  cohesive development other than the reiterated 'I have done

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this and this.'" 253 Nevertheless several contemporaneous and historical factors can be adduced to explain in part the rise of Vinaya-based monasticism in Degé at this time. For one, the royal court at this time maintained a model of kingship in which the king was an ordained bodhisattva. After the death of the renowned king Tenpa Tsering  –  who was lay because he was the only surviving male of his generation – the son who succeeded him was a monk. The prince's ordination name was Püntsok Tenpa ( phun

tshogs bstan pa) and upon his father's death in 1738 he quickly took full ordination and became the king.254 He also continued his father's endeavor to print new editions of the canon and was the chief patron of the Degé edition of the Tengyur, completed in 1743. Therefore the importance that the royal court placed on monasticism may have contributed to Situ's passion to spread monasticism in Kham. Furthermore the Karma Kagyü School has a long history with monasticism. Perhaps the monastic state of  the Lhasa's Ganden Podrang also exerted an influence on Situ Penchen's campaign. Situ represents himself  as being very deliberate about his own ordination. When visiting with treasure revealer Rolpé Dorjé (d. 1720) in 1719, one of his oldest teachers, the elderly lama told Situ of  the many prophecies and signs indicating Situ’s destined role in his community, which would have entailed a non -celibate

253

Apparitions of the Self, 109.

254

Kolmas, A Genealogy of the Kings of Derge, 40-41.

255

lifestyle.

Situ politely but firmly refused t he invitation with a number of 

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excuses. The final excuse was that he wanted to take full ordination, to which Situ records that the lama finally gave his assent. 256 Rolpé Dorjé died the following year and Situ conducted the funeral but did not succeed the la ma as the head of  his followers. Rather Situ carried out his plans and soon after underwent full ordination. Situ took full ordination while on an extended stay at Tsurpu Monastery 257 in early 1723. Situ's main gurus officiated the ordination ceremony, with the eighth Zhamar Chökyi Döndrup serving as preceptor ( mkhan po) and the fourth Treho Rinpoché ( tre ho rin po che ; 1653-1730) as interviewer ( gsang ste ston pa).258 Situ concludes the account of  his ordination with a statement about how his feeble merit handicapped him from observing all the vows strictly to the letter of the law, yet his

255

Situ Penchen,  Autobiography, 61.3. Guru Trashi’s History contains a profile of Rolpé Dorjé (Ngawang Lodro, 575-576). A title in Situ Penchen’s Collected Works is putatively a biography of Rolpé Dorjé but upon close inspection it seems to be simply a collection of early verse by Situ that is not about Rolpé Dorjé (rig 'dzin dbang phyug rol pa'i rdo rje'i rnam par thar pa dbyangs can mgul gyi sgra dbyangs, vol. 10, pp. 1-35). Further research is required on this text to determine what relationship it has to Rolpé Dorjé’s life story. 256

Ibid., 62.2; The passage reads kho bo dge slong gi sdom pa zhig kyang zhu ‘dod che bas kyis kyang gnang dgos shes [read ces] pheb phyung. 257

Ibid., 95.6.

258

This was the third Treho incarnation and his full name was Karma Tendzin Dargyé ( kar+ma bstan 'dzin dar rgyas). Situ's nephew Sampel (dbon po bsam 'phel ) also took full ordination on that day, presumably alongside Situ. Zhamar gave Situ the ordination name Karma Tenpé Nyinché Tsuklak Chökyi Nangwa (kar+ma bstan pa'i nyin byed chos kyi snang ba ); Situ’s ordination is also covered in the long profile of  Situ in the extensive collection of biographies Karma Kagyu lamas authored begun by Situ and completed  by his Belo Tsewang Kunkhyab ( 'be lo tshe dbang kun khyab ), The Collected Biographies of the Precious  Karma Kagyü Lineage ( sgrub brgyud kar+ma kaM tshang brgyud pa rin po chei rnam par thar pa rab 'byams nor bu zla ba chu shel gyi phreng ba zhes bya ba'i pu sti ka phyi ma ), 456.5.

respect for the ordination compelled him to take advantage of  every fortnight

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confession ceremony to purify all his infractions.259 Situ’s career as an officiant of ordinations began almost immediately after his own ordination. The month after his ordination a group of  forty -five monks from Tramgu ( khra 'gu) monastery 260 and Kongpo (kong po) came to Tsurphu seeking full ordination from Zhamar.261 The latter asked Situ to serve as the interviewer for these ordination, probably because of  the high rank of  his trülku line. This presented Situ with a dilemma because the Vinaya states that a monk must wait ten years after his own full ordination before he can give full ordination to ano ther monk. 262 Situ overcomes this dilemma through appeal to the higher authorities of  Mah āyāna and Vajrayāna morality. "Generally speaking, in this lineage the lama's statements are taken as essential, even more so than any textually -based mode of  explanation or presentation…"263 As his own master Zhamar ordered him to participate in the

259

Situ Penchen , Autobiography, 96.5.

260

Tramgu Monastery ( khra 'gu bkra shis bshad sgrub chos 'khor gling ) is located in Yühru County, Qinghai; Cf. The Monasteries of Yulshul County ( yul shul rdzong: dgon sde'i lo rgyus mdor bsdus ), 50-54 and Jamyang Tsültrim, Brief History of Upper Kham Eastern Tibet , 46. 261

Situ Penchen,  Autobiography, 97.2.

262

 Ibid, 97.3, 'dul ba lugs la bsnyen par rdzogs nas lo hril po'am phyed lo bcu ma song bar de rigs 'os min. In Tibet, if not in India and elsewhere, the meaning of the "ten year" interval between ordination and conferral was subject to creative interpretation. For instance, in this passage Situ says, "According to Vinaya custom, it is not acceptable (to confer full ordination) until ten full or half years have passed since (one's own) full ordination." When someone could not wait a full ten years to participate in a full ordination ceremony he could instead wait only ten "half years" (i.e., five years total) and consider it enough. 263

Ibid., 97.3; spyir rgyud pa 'dir lung gi bshad tshul dang rnam gzhag gang las kyang bla mas gsungs pa de snying por bzung bas.

ordination of  these visiting monks, he felt the command of  this Buddha in the

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flesh overruled the dictates of the Prātimokṣa Discipline. Situ eventually returned to Degé from central Tibet and became very close with the king of Degé Tenpa Tsering, whose power in the region was growing at this time.264 In 1726 the latter ordered Situ to found a new monastery on the eastern side of the Drichu, all of which was newly under the control of the Qing Empire. 265 From at least the time of the third Situ, Trashi Peljor (bkra shis dpal 'byor; 1498-1541), the Situ lamas had been closely associated with Karma Monastery ( kar+ma dgon), on the west side of  the Drichu River. 266 For unstated reasons Situ wanted to establish a new home monastery squarely within the Degé state. Later that year Situ selected the site for his new monastery, which he named Pelpung Thubten Chökor Ling ( dpal

spungs thub bstan chos 'khor gling ). The foundation was laid in the spring of  1727 and the consecration of the completed monastery was performed in 1729. 267 Pelpung quickly became one of  the greatest centers of  learning and contemplation in all of  Kham and retained that distinction through the early twentieth century.268 During this time Situ was also charged with editing the Degé edition of Kangyur commissioned

264

Kolmas, A Genealogy of the Kings of Derge, 37-39.

265

Situ Penchen , Autobiography, 140.7.

266

Karma Gyeltsen, History of the Karma Kagyu and Pelpung Monastery, 81-100.

267

Situ Penchen , Autobiography, 141.5-147.5; this page range covers the entire span of the construction, decoration, and consecration of Pelpung Monastery. 268

Cf. Karma Gyeltsen’s new sourcebook of primary sources about Pelpung and its lamas, The History of  Pelpung Thubten Chönkhorling.

by Tenpa Tsering, which he completed in 1733.

269

Situ also began his long career

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as the head officiant of ordinations. In 1729 Situ made one of his numerous trips to Lijiang (in Yunnan) and while there officiated over the ordination of  many monks from local K arma Kagyü monasteries.270 His terse record of the ceremony states, “On the twenty-fifth day (of  the seventh lunar month) I performed the full ordination of  around a hundred monks."271 In the ninth month of  the same year, and while still in the Lijiang area, Situ performed a few more full ordination ceremonies. 272 From this point Situ rarely passes more than a year between ordinations. Throughout his life he ordained over a thousand monks in eastern Tibet and the border regions, including Degé, Lijiang, and Gyelrong. For our present purposes, however, our focus is on Situ's ordination of  Nyingma monks. Situ’s involvement in the spread of  celibate monasticism to the Nyingma monks of Degé commenced in 1740. 273 Situ Penchen's  Autobiography does not give any indication as to why relations with Nyingma monasteries such as Katok and Pelyül were intensifying at this time. One contributing factor might have been that for a dozen or more years preceding this year Situ had been incredibly busy. Situ 269

CF. Schaeffer, The Culture of the Book in Tibet.

270

CF. Debreczeny, “Bodhisattvas South of the Clouds: Situ Panchen’s Activities and Artistic Inspiration in Yunnan.” 271

Situ Penchen , Autobiography, 150.2; nyer lnga nyin grwa pa brgya skor la bsnyen rdzogs bsgrubs. The ordination took place at Okmin Ling Monastery ( 'og min gling ) in the Lijiang area. 272

Ibid., 150.5; bsnyen dzogs 'ga' re bsgrubs.

273

1740 was an iron monkey year ( lcags spre lo ).

153 worked on his new monastery from 1727-1729; Traveled to Lijiang from 17291730; Worked on the Kangyur from 1731 -1734; Spent two years in central Tibet between 1734 -1736 attending to the funerals of  the Karmapa and Zhamarpa; Officiated the funeral of  the king of  Degé Tenpa Tsering in 1738; And returned to Lijiang in the winter of 1738 until the following year. Situ was busy his entire life yet the decade of  the 1740s, when he was involved with Katok and Pelyul, were less hectic than the preceding decade. This is a special year in the Guru Rinpoché cult, since Padmasambhava is believe to have been magically born in a lotus on the tenth day of the monkey month of a monkey year. Followers of  Nyingma traditions celebrate a communal ritual in honor of  Guru Rinpoché every tenth day of  the l unar month, with large annual festivals on the tenth day of  every monkey month. 274 Furthermore, the monkey  year  comes once every twelve years. Thus on the tenth day of  the monkey month of  the monkey year, 1740, Situ Rinpoché held a large festival at Pelpung to worship Guru Rinpoché. He writes, “This monkey year we elaborately performed the masked dance of the Nyingma tradition's Great Tenth Day Celebration on the tenth day of the monkey month." 275 The Degé royal family came to the event and gave money towards t he annual celebration of  this festival. Large segments of  the monastic

274 275

The timing of this month varies between the different calendrical systems.

Situ, Autobiography, 191.7; sprel lo rnying lugs kyi sprel zla'i tshes bcu chen mo'i 'chams rgyas par   bgyis.

population of  Pelyül and Rakchab ( rag chab)

276

154 monasteries  – both Nyingma  – 

attended the festival. On the nineteenth of the monkey month Situ gave three days of  ordinations to the assembl ed Nyingma monks. The  Autobiography reads, “On the nineteenth day I performed the full ordination for 105 monks from Pelyül and here (i.e., Pelpung). The next day I performed the full ordination for 119 monks and the novice ordination for eighty. The following day I performed the full ordination for about 100 monks from Ragchab." 277 Thus about one hundred monks from each of  these two local Nyingma monasteries were given full ordination, an impressive number from any perspective. Three years later, in 1743, Si tu went to Pelyül Monastery. At the monastery Situ ordained forty monks from Pelyül and elsewhere, bestowing on some the tonsure ceremony and others full ordination.278 According to Tsewang Norbu's 1752 letters, Drimé Zhingkyong was a corrupt lama who embezzled money and let the temples fall apart. This is contradicted in Situ's  Autobiography, where Situ Penchen records that in the second month of  the lunar year beginning in 1745 Zhingkyong took full ordination under Situ Penchen himself. The account reads, “By means of  the threefold formula ( tshig gsum), I performed the full ordination ceremony for about fifty: Katok Zhingkyong, Samar lama, Tsewang Trinlé and others, including (monks) from Kyapché ( skyabs che ba) 276

This place name is also spelled rab khyab and rak chab. A history of Rakchab Monastery is found in The History of the Monasteries of Kardze Prefecture, v. 3 , 221-225. 277

Situ, Autobiography, 192.3; bcu dgur dpal yul dang 'di'i grwa pa brgya dang lnga bsnyen rdzogs  bsgrubs/ phyi nyin grwa pa brgya dang bcu dgu bsnyen rdzogs dang brgyad cu skor dge tshul dang/ phyi nyin yang rag chab pa brgya skor bsnyen rdzogs bsgrubs. 278

Ibid., 214.3

and (Pelpung) monastery."

279

Situ portrays Zhin gkyong to be a decent enough

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lama who is interested in high teachings and upholds the discipline of  a fully ordained monk. This may come as a surprise given Tsewang Norbu's later accusations, but Zhingkyong's monastic status is also confirmed in Getsé's sh ort biography of Zhingkyong and Khenpo Jamyang's recent Brief History of Katok .280 After several years of  intensive travel and diplomacy related to the death of  the young ninth Zhamar and recognition of  the tenth Zhamar, in the spring of  1750 Situ resumed ordaining Nyingma monks in Degé. That year one hundred monks and lamas from Pelyül visited Pelpung and Situ gave full ordination to about forty of  them.281 Shortly afterwards, Zhingkyong led approximately one hundred Katok monks to Pelpung. 282 Situ gave special Kalacakra teachings to Zhingkyong and the Katok monks. This was followed by a full ordination ceremony for around forty Katok monks ( kaH thog gi grwa pa bzhi bcu skor bsnyen rdzogs bsgrubs ).283 Subsequent ordinations of  monks from Pelyül, Katok, and other l ocal Nyingma monasteries are recorded in Situ’s  Autobiography.284 Eventually the lamas of  Katok 279

 Ibid., p. 223.2.

280

Getse Mahapandita, Inventory of Drimé Zhingkyong’s Reliquary, p. 111; and Jamyang Gyeltsen, Brief  History of Katok, 104. 281

Situ Penchen,  Autobiography, 299.7

282

Ibid., 300.3;

283

This is one of only a small amount of precise details about the number of Katok monks engaged in a  particular activity. As no figures on the overall number of monks at the monastery are available it is impossible what percentage of the monastic population is represented by these forty monks. 284

I do not believe that a sizable number of monks from Katok or Pelyül took full ordination under Situ Penchen multiple times. Renewal of vows does occur but is not so common in Tibet that the figures  provided by Situ might be skewed because of numerous cases of re-ordination.

and Pelyül who were ordained by Situ began to give monastic ordination to their

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own monks, and these lineages persist to the present day.285 The data indicates that in the 1740s and 50s, and beyond, there was a groundswell of  celibate monasticism spreading through some Nyingma monasteries in Kham, including Katok. Katok participated in and was profoundly affected by this development at the Kagyü and Nyingma monasteries of  Degé. Unfortunately we do not have do not have precise data on the number of celibate monks prior to this or if  monks from other monasteries were also giving ordination at Katok. Regardless, what is significant is that the head of Katok took full ordination. As the leader of the community his example must have gradually had an effect on the moral dimension of  the community. Furthermore, Zhingkyong's ordination demonstrates that  –  contra Tsewang Norbu  – celibate monasticism and trülku succession were not incompatible and actually went together at Katok. Situ's Monastic Customaries

In addition to ordaining monks at numerous monasteries in Kham, Situ also wrote several monastic customaries (bca' yig). Cabezón says, "Although all Buddhist monks and nuns in Tibet follow as their principle discipline the monastic vows as set forth in the Indian Buddhist vinaya tradition of  the M ūlasarvāstivādin sect, Tibetan monasteries felt a need to supplement this general discipline with more specific documents that focused on the practical aspects of  daily life: the cha-yig [bca' yig, 285

Katok abbot Khenpo Sönam Tenpa, personal communication, 2006.

monastic customary]."

286

Volume Ten of his Collected Works contains at least six

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different monastic customaries 287 and his  Autobiography mentions other customaries that do not seem to be included in the Collected Works.288 The customaries authored by Situ Penchen range from short works that appear to have been written in haste to fuller treatments that refer to advanced topics in Buddhist ethics and morality. In most cases they were written for small monasteries he visited on his travels. These documents provide an illuminating perspective on the issues faced by monasteries in the process of reviving celibate monasticism and in the quotidian duties of everyday community organization. As such they complement the accounts of ordinations given in Situ's Autobiography, filling out the picture of his monastic revival. One of  Situ Penchen's monastic customaries is especially pertinent to the situation at Katok monastery during the time when Situ and Zhingkyong are reviving celibate monasticism at Katok. This customary was written for Püntsok Dargyé Ling ( phun tshogs dar rgyas gling ) monastery, which is likely in Yuhru ( yus hru'u or  yul

shul; in northern Kham; present -day Qinghai). After the opening segment Situ recounts that in the past this institution had a monastic customary, but that the 286

"The Regulations of a Monastery," 243; Cech, "A Bonpo bCa'-yig: the Rules of the sMan-ri Monastery;" and Ellingson, "Tibetan Monastic Constitutions: the bCa'-Yig." 287

Situ's monastic customaries are not collected into a unified collection  per se. They are found within a diverse group of miscellanea that contains edicts to harmful sprits and gods, travel documents ( lam yig ), and other "legalistic" writings. The table of contents to the parent volume (vol. 10) calls this miscellanea the  shi'u gsin gyi lo rgyus sogs sna tshogs/ legs sbyar klog thabs nyung ngu rnam gsal/ sme brtsegs sngags on snang srid lha 'dre la spring yig/ dgon sde khag gi bca' yig le'u mtshan bcas, 125-170 . 288

For instance, in 1739 Situ wrote a monastic customary for a monastery in Lijiang ( 'jang ) that his nephew Sampel translated into Chinese; Situ Penchen,  Autobiography, 182.7; bca' yig dang tshogs su bca' bsgrigs  gi bkod pa byas bsam 'phel gyis lo tsA bsgyur ba yin . In the record for 1757 in his  Autobiography Situ mentions the composition a monastic customary (for Tramgu Monastery) that is not in his Collected Works; 350.3; khra 'gu'i bca' yig bris .

ravages of  time had resulted in this once pure monastery being overtaken by

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“non-celibate priests” ( ‘ban btsun) who did not desire to conform to monastic customs ( lugs mthun gyi re che ma mchis ).289 The Tibetan term translated as noncelibate monk is ‘ban btsun and appears to be a colloquialism local to just one region of Tibet.290 Situ clearly thinks it is unfortunate that the monastic discipline was “lost” (shor ) to non-celibate “monks” and distinguished between celibate and non-celibate monks. This recalls Tsewang Norbu's complaints that Katok had lost its monastic traditions. In the body of this monastic customary Situ begins with a presentation of the four defeats (  pham pa bzhi; catvāraḥ pār ā jik ā dharmāḥ), which are root transgressions of the monastic regime. 291 According to the Pratimok ṣa, an infraction of any one of the four defeats leads to expulsion from the monastic order for life. The first defeat Situ discusses is the prohibition against sexual intercourse. In fact, the first defeat is the rule against murder and in every other customary preserved in his

Collected Works it is the first one covered. At Püntsok Dargyé Ling Situ may have felt a greater sense of urgency to admonish the monks of this monastery not to sleep

289

Situ Penchen,  Monastic Customaries , 141.2.

290

I asked Thupten Püntsok and Khenpo Ngawang Dorjé but neither had ever seen this term, though they did agree with me that the term means non-celibate "monk." 291

Situ Penchen,  Monastic Customaries , 141.2.

with women than to avoid killing people. Situ’s explanation of  the rule is also

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tailored to address the recent history of this monastery. It reads,292 Regarding the matter of celibacy, women are never to be lodged in the monastery overnight. If (such an) evident blemish (mngon gsal gyi nag

bag) occurs within (the community of) pure monks, then many monks must expose the crime. If  the sin is concealed, then (the offending monk) must be expelled following procedure. Knowing that it might be difficult to enforce absolute celibacy among a community where many older monks were non -celibate, Situ is especially lenient towards offenders. Situ continues, “If from the beginning (of the incident) the monk admits the infraction with regret, then reinstate him in the training.” 293 The Vinaya states that a monk who penetrates another living being with his penis even the length of a sesame seed is guilty of a defeat, but here Situ is not taking such a hard line. Situ even directly addresses the sexual morality of  the married lamas in this section. He writes, “The non -celibate priests ( 'ban btsun; should) receive the layperson’s vows and act as bona fide (holders of  the vows) by restraining from sexual impropriety in accordance with the m."294 Situ concludes this part about celibacy by writing, “From now on all those committed (to the monastery) as monks 292

Ibid.; mi tshangs spyod kyi char dgon par mtshan mo bud med gtan nas 'jog sa med cing grwa gtsang rnams la mngon gsal gyi nag khag byung na grwa mang gis mtshang 'don zhing sdig pa rang gsang byed na  bsgrigs nas 'don. 293 294

Ibid., 141.3; thog ma nas 'gyod sems kyis nongs pa khas len nab slabs pa bskyar du 'jug.

Ibid., 'ban btsun rnams kyis kyang dge bsnyen gyi sdom pa nod cing de mthun byi bo srung ba sogs tshad ldan byed.

should not go down paths that deviate from the conduct of pure monks.”

295

After

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covering all four of the defeats, Situ then offers guidelines for the group rituals, again addressing the non -celibate priests; “Because during the assemblies ( tshogs) the married lamas may not transgress even the layperson’s vows, they should not wear the accessories or clothes of  an ordinary householder, such as pants, swords around their waists (rkad gri), and long hair (rbad mgo).”296 This monastic customary reveals that some monasteries in Kham had mixed communities, housing both celibate and noncelibate “monks.” Furthermore this text clearly indicates that even though there might be a group of  monks at a given monastery who want to reestablish the vows of  celibate monasticism after many generations of decline, the affiliated non-celibate monks continued to be a part of the monastery and even participate in the assemblies. Again it must be said that we do not have reliable figures on the numbers and types of  monks at Katok, yet this customary is suggestive about the kinds of  dilemmas and arrangements that Zhingkyong and his contemporaries may have faced there.297 Cleary Situ sees the disappearance of  ordained monks and the ascendancy of  married monks at Püntsok Dargyé Ling as an unfortunate period in their history. Situ slights the married monks throughout, even suggesting their way of life is a "wrong 295

Ibid., da nas bzung grwa par 'jog tshad gtsang btsun byed pa las log lam du mi sbyor.

296

Ibid., tshogs kyi skabs 'ban btsun yin yang dge bsnyen gyi sdom pa tsam dang mi mbstun ka med phyir  dor ma rkad gri rbad mgo sogs khyim pa dkyus ma'i chas gos mi byed. 297

Cf. Ortner, High Religion, 188-192, for an insightful account of a similar transition from non-celibacy to celibacy at a small monastery in a Sherpa community in Nepal. She characterizes the change from the one state to the other as a "revolution."

path" ( log lam). Nevertheless Situ Penchen tries to reconcile the two

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communities. For instance, he does not take an antagonistic approach and advocate the dismissal of all married monks. Rather, Situ allows for them to still maintain their participation in the community, albeit with a status inferior to that of  the ordained monks. Before concluding this section about Situ Penchen's influential efforts to spread celibate monasticism in Degé, including at Nyingma monasteries such as Katok, another of  Situ's historic "campaigns" will be introduced. Situ also devoted himself to improving the Tibetan translations of  Indian texts on the literary arts. Gene Smith summarizes this work as follows, "After the tedium of  editing the  Bka'

'gyur was finished, Si tu turned to a project that was to occupy him for the rest of his life: the re -examination and revision of  all existing translations of  the Sanskrit grammatical, lexicographic, and poetic treatises that constitute the basis for Tibetan philological studies." 298 The chief  editor of  the Degé edition of  the Tengyur and Longchenpa’s Seven Treasuries, Zhuchen Tsultrim Rinchen, was also a proponent of  classical learning. The two lamas gained their prestigious roles as leaders of Degé’s publications because of  their mastery of  the literary arts. As the kingdom sought to accrue respectability through the philological rigor and readability of  its editions of  the canons, the value placed on expertise in the literary arts likewise increased. Situ's and Zhuchen's students trained Katok lamas in the literary arts, who in turn made

298

Smith, Among Tibetan Texts, 91.

training in them important at Katok in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth

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centuries, as we will see in the following section. The preceding sections of this chapter have demonstrated that important new developments and trends were afoot in eighteenth century Degé monasteries overall. These include the rise of  reincarnate lamas at Nyingma monasteries, the spread of  celibate monasticism at many of these same monasteries, and a high value placed on classical learning and publishing. The remainder of  the chapter is devoted to Katok lamas and will examine how these prevailing institutional practices were incorporated into life at Katok. This examination will take the early years of  the Katok reincarnate lama Getsé Mah āpaṇḍita Gyurmé Tsewang Chokdrup as a case study. Getsé Mahāpaṇḍita's Early Years: Joining the Coterie of Trülkus and Training in the Treasures

Eighteenth-century Katok Monastery was influenced by, and participated in, the broader Nyingma and Degé trends introduced earlier in this chapter. However, the institutional changes that took place at Katok during this time were also conditioned by much more local issues. It is the complex tension between the regional and local dynamics that must be analyzed to unde rstand fully the transformations at Katok. Foremost among the relevant local contexts is the incorporation of  Longsel Nyingpo's treasures within Katok's liturgical and contemplative programs. In the following section I will discuss the momentous rise

of reincarnate lamas at Katok, and then detail Getsé's first thirty or so years at

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Katok during which he was trained by Zhingkyong and other reincarnated lamas there. I will also show that there was a strong shift towards a program centered on Treasures, especially Longsel's treasures. Furthermore the relatively modest Kama study and practice that did occur at Katok was based on recent compositions made by lamas from Mindrölling monastery, not texts from Katok's own literary patrimony. Overall my argument is that under the direction of the first generation of reincarnate lamas at Katok in the eighteenth century, the monastery was developing in such a way that reincarnate lamas and celibate monasticism were gaining ascendancy, while at the same time Longsel's trea sures increasingly came to inhabit the center of  Katok's religious programs. In contrast, there is no evidence of  any systematic attempt to revive the Kama. Thus during this time the most distinctive traditions maintained at Katok were Longsel Nyingpo's tr easures while the leadership was dominated by lamas who were said to be the reincarnations of  Longsel Nyingpo's relatives and students. This is a far cry from the vision of Katok that Tsewang Norbu tried to enact at Katok. The Rise of Reincarnated Lamas at Katok

Getsé Gyurmé Tséwang Chokdrup (1761-1829) was the most influential lama at Katok to follow Longsel Nyingpo. He proved himself to be a brilliant scholar and administrator, but his initial rise to prominence at Katok was entirely due to his status as a reincarnate lama. In fact, Getsé was part and parcel of  an explosion of 

reincarnate lamas at Katok. I argued earlier that Longsel Nyingpo profoundly

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altered the monastery’s administration when he introduced trülkus to Katok. As explained above, prior to Longsel's time at Katok the primary modes of  succession among the leadership of  the monastery were based on academic excellence and uncle-nephew heredity. Trülku succession seems to have been unknown. The first of  this new generation of  trülkus was Longsel 's son Sönam Deütsen (d. 1723), the reincarnation of  Dündul Dorjé. Sönam Deütsen himself  then identified further trülkus, foremost among them Tsewang Norbu. It appears, though, that it wasn't until the time of Sonam Deuten’s reincarnation that enduring trülku lines were established at Katok. By the 1760s there were at least four trülkus at Katok: Zhingkyong, Mokdrup ( rmog grub), Chaktsa ( phyag tsha), and Zhichen ( gzhi chen). The first Zhingkyong was the first trülku at Katok to be truly powerful, and thus later histories claim that he discovered all the other principal Katok trülkus. The Mokdrup trülkus line of reincarnate lamas began as the trülku of Orgyen Sampel (o rgyan bsam 'phel), a master in the Dündul Dorjé lineage of  masters who was based at Moktsa Monastery. 299 This monastery is close to Katok, but across the Dri River in the present-day Tibetan Autonomous Region. The birth date of the first Moktsa, Namkha Chöwang ( nam mkha’ chos dbang ), is not known, but Getsé's

 Autobiography specifies his death as being in 1784.300 Another important trülku line that originated during this same time period is the Chaktsa line. This line of  299

Jamyang Gyeltsen, Brief History of Katok , 126.

300

Getse Mahā paṇḍita, Autobiography, 193.3.

165 incarnations stems from Bango Tsöndru Gyatso (sbra 'go btson 'grus rgya mtsho), a student of both Dündul and Longsel Nyingpo. The name Bango is the toponym of  Tsöndru Gyatso's primary residence, a ridge two hours walk from Katok. The first and second Getsé also made it their primary Katok residence. 301 The fourth line of  reincarnate lamas was the Zhichen line and began with Kunzang Tendzin ( gzhi chen

bla ma kun bzang bstan ‘dzin; d. 1776) of Golok. 302 Getsé was trained by all four of  these reincarnate lamas, who welcomed him into the expanding circle of  Katok trülkus.303 One can imagine that other reincarnated lamas were also identified and promoted, but never matured into great lamas and thus subsequently were lost to history. Another trülku line that began under Zhingkyong  – but was not established at Katok until during Getsé's tenure as head lama – was the Nyingön line.304 They are said to be the incarnations of Longsel's teacher Sangyé Trashi, who was the lama at 301

According to a contemporary oral tradition, Getsé's residence on Bango was destroyed in the aftermath of the murder of the second Getse by several monks who were ordered to assassinate him by his consort. The monks first killed Getsee and then also killed his consort and burnt down the home. The remains of the home are still visible. 302

The first description Getsé gives of him in the  Autobiography (169.6) is that “he was a great man, knowledgeable about both sciences [spiritual and worldly] and had a large entourage of monks and lay  persons;” gtsug lag gnyis/ mknyen pa’i skyes chen ser skya'i 'khor mang bcas. The current Mokdrup and Zhichen lamas are brothers. The former's name is Jikdrel Choklé Namgyel ( 'jigs bral phyogs las rnam rgyal ) and the latter is the third Zhichen incarnation and named Pema Gyeltsen ( pad+ma rgyal mtshan ). The current Zhichen is also the father of the present head of the Drukpa Kagyü sect, the twelfth Drukchen, Jikmé Pema Wangchen ( 'brug chen 'jigs med pad+ma dbang chen;  b. 1963). 303

These four lamas are considered to be Katok lamas in that during their respective "first incarnations" they were deeply involved with the monastery (though not necessarily fulltime residents) and their  incarnations have remained tied to Katok through to the present. Perhaps in their first incarnations they had dual allegiances but Katok lamas administered the recognitions of their later incarnations and representatives of the mother monastery trained them. 304

Jamyang Gyeltsen, Brief History of Katok , 84-85.

Katok's Nyingön and taught Longsel during his first stay at the monastery in the

166

1640s. Several decades later Zhingkyong recognized an adult lama in Litang to be his reincarnation. This lama's reincarnation was discovered and then taken to Katok, where he was the first Nyingön trülku to be enthroned at Katok and work at the monastery. Family and Recognition as a Trülku of Katok

Getsé’s lasting legacy at the monastery was to reestablish the centrality of the Kama rituals and study, while at the same time enshrining the treasures of  Longsel Nyingpo in the liturgical calendar and curriculum of  Katok’s meditation training centers. He also made an impact on Nyingma religion in Kham and Golok – reviving the study of the Guhyagarbha  – through his extensive teaching tours and because he counted among his closest disciples leaders of  many regional monasteries. Getsé is recognized throughout the Nyingma world as the compiler and editor of  the most well-regarded and distributed edition of the Collected Tantras of the Ancients (rnying

ma'i rgyud 'bum). Politically, he was a prominent chaplain in the Degé court from the late eighteenth century to his death in 1829. In this section I will first discuss his early years, with an eye to assessing the state of  religious training at Katok under Zhingkyong.

The bare outline of  Getsé’s life is available in a few English language

167

publications including translations of Nyingma histories and scholarly articles.305 The scholarly articles, for one, do not make use of  his recently published  Autobiography and thus lack significant reference to Getsé’s own self -representation. Here I will make exhaustive use of  the  Autobiography and the profile of  him in Guru Tashi’s

 History, which was composed the year before Getsé’s death. The  Autobiography was made available to the world only in 2001, along with the rest of  his Collected 

Works.306  Getsé Gyurmé Tséwang Chokdrup was born in 1761 into the Getsé tribe of  nomads. The Getsé tribe spent at least part of  the year in the nomadic regions of  northern Kardzé County and likely spent other periods in neighboring Serta County. Later in his life Getsé established a monastery nearby his tribe's grazing lands in what is now officially known as Getsé Township (dge rtse shang; Ch. gengzhi xiang),

305

Achard, "Rig ‘dzin Tshe dbang mchog grub (1761-1829) et la constitution du rNying ma rgyud ‘bum de sDe dge," 43-47; Jigmé Lingpa, et. al.,  Diety, Mantra, and Wisdom, 17-18; and Duckworth,  Mipham On  Buddha-nature. 306

The great preserver and publisher of Nyingma texts Ja Tsering Gyatso ( bya tshe ring rgya mtsho ) of   Nyakrong (and Katok monastery) sought out individual works from the Collected Works throughout eastern Tibet and with the help of American-based Tsadra Foundation published them at the turn of this century. An essentially complete set of the Collected Works were compiled and published as a facsimile edition. Many of the texts Tsering Gyatso procured are unclear in many places because of damage to the originals, smudged ink, or bleed through of both sides of a folio. These imperfections are amplified by the fact that this edition was printed on unbleached paper which diminishes the white-black contrast that is so helpful in distinguishing unclear letters and entire passages. Certain texts are also missing pages. Sometimes this is due the folia missing from the master copies but on other occasions individual sides are missing from the reprint and this is a mistake of the publisher. Those minor problems notwithstanding, Getsé’s Collected  Works are an outstanding source for the history of Katok and Nyingma thought in the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries.

Kardzé County.

307

In the  Autobiography Getsé wrote about his father’s eventful

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life: “He first entered the gate of  the dharma [to become a monk]. Subsequently, because of  the ravages of  time ( dus ‘gyur ) his (monastic) training became upended (‘chal). He had clear and firm knowledge of  the secular ways of  man.” 308 Getsé’s father later encountered serious conflict within his camp and with Degé. The

 Autobiography continues on about his father’s troubles , “First his brother became hostile ( dgrar langs) and Degé descended with a large army and usurped the community and land. He experienced many sufferings, including imprisonment for many years.” 309 Eventually he used he used his “skill in means” to call a meeting of  the chiefs during which he regained his post and overcame all of his enemies. Getsé’s mother  – named Dokhoma ( rdo kho ma) -was the daughter of  the chief  of  the

307

In Getsé's own words ( Autobiography, 164.2), "From among the smaller and larger Lurel (klu ral ) in the east, I am from the latter; and from within its subdivisions into Dra and Da, my hometown is the former" ( shar sde’i klu ral che chung gnyis yod pas/ phyi ma de la gra zla gnyis zhes pa’i/ snga ma. As Getsé was a nomad and these toponyms refer to campsites, it is hard to identify Dra with any certainty. The identification of his clan is more informative. The passage about their genealogy reads, “Now to explain the identity of my family line, in earlier times there were three (brothers?): Gélu, Gétse, and Géphen. Among the sons of Gélu, Wasi Kyab propagated the family line, and the five bands ( gzhung ) of Washul and others came about ([an interlinear notes lists out:] Trobo, Sangyékyap, Tsémgönkyap, Lamakyap, Yéru, Tönru, and others). I’ve heard that the Gepen circuit ( bskor ) are even in the lower Za ( mza smad ) region. As for  the Getsé (dge rtse) lineage, the lineages known as Getsé have splintered into many (sublines). From among them are Trogyel’s nine sons, including both Chaktargyel ( scags thar rgyal ) and Tamdrinyak ( rta mgrin yag ). The former lineage spawned the Upper Getsé ( dge rtse stod ma ) and from within the latter’s lineage arose the seven camps ( shog ) of the Troshul. Monk Jinpa, Lhakyab Bum, Lhakyab Gyel, and  Nyingpo arose (from the latter?). Lhakyapbum had the three (sons), Tubpa, Nyingpo, and Gyatso, and (another three) named Tsekyap Thar, Lozang Tenpa, and Namka Pelzang. From among those six the son of   Nyingpo was my father, Losang Tsultrim” ( Getse's Autobiography , 164.3). 308

Ibid., 164.7; dang po chos sgor zhugs/ phyi nas dus 'gyur dbang gis bslab pa 'chal/ 'jig rten mi lugs blo gros gsal brtan no. 309

Ibid., 165.3; thog mar phu nu dgrar langs sde dge yis/ dpung chen phab nas sde yul 'phrog dang/ kho rang brtson zhabs lo mang bcug pa sogs/ sdud bsngal mang po myong….

Chakmo clan of Golok (lcags mo ‘gu log ).

310

His parents first gave birth to a girl,

169

and then in the summer of the iron snake year of 1761 Getsé was born.311 Four more daughters followed Getsé and his older sister and Getsé makes special mention that he was the only son. Getsé devotes several lines in the  Autobiography to telling the reader that when he was  just a young boy he would play monk dress-up and was very ethical. His family members took notice and “at one point my paternal uncle asked, ‘Who are you?’ I replied, ‘I am Tsewang Trinlé (tshe dbang phrin las ).”312 Tsewang Trinlé was a nephew of Longsel Nyingpo and managed Katok after the death of  Longsel’s son Sönam Deütsen in 1723.313 The  Autobiography says that when his parents heard that their only son had memories of his past life as a lama they immediately knew he was a trülku and lamented the fact due to fears of losing their son to a monastery as well as possible political consequences that might result from losing their heir. The first lama to recognize the child as a trülku was Dzokchen Wön lama Padma Kundröl Namgyel ( rdzogs chen dbon pad+ma kun grol rnam rgyal ), who visited Getsé’s area when the boy was about 6 or 7 years old. Getsé writes,314

310

Ibid., 165.6

311

Ibid.

312

Ibid., 166.2; skabs shig khu bos khyod su yin zhes par/ tshe dbang phrin las yin zhes smras par 'dug.

313

Ngawang Lodrö, Guru Trashi's History , 754.

314

Getsé Mahā paṇḍita, Autobiography, 166.4; khrom dbang gnang sar bdag kyang pha yis khrid/ zhal mjal skal bzang thob cing dbang de'i tshe/ bdag nyid kho nar spyan gyis mi g.yo gzigs/ phyir nyin rnam 'joms  byabs khrus bka' drin bstal/ 'di ni nges par kaH thog bstan pa la/ phan 'gyur khyim du ma sdod der song zhes.

My father led me to where (Padma Kundröl Namgyel) was giving

170

a public initiation and I had the good fortune to behold his face. During that initiation he looked only at me. The next day he kindly bestowed the Vidāra ṇa cleansing ritual. He said, ‘Certainly this one will benefit the teachings of Katok. He should not live at home. He should go there (Katok monastery).’ The two leaders of  Katok at that time  – Drimé Zhingkyong and Mokdrup  –  were then consulted. Mokdrup Namkha Chöwang ( rmog grub nam mkha' chos

dbang, d. 1784) had a vision indicating that the young son of the leader of the Getsé tribe was the reincarnation of  Tsewang Trinlé and formalized th e recognition. Furthermore, Drimé Zhingkyong and Mokdrup  jointly named the boy Rindzin Mingyur Yeshé (rig ‘dzin mi ‘gyur ye shes ).315 The lamas also said that if  the boy did not visit Katok that very year then disturbances ( 'tshub cha che) would be visited on the family. 316 Getsé’s father was worried about this threat and took his son to Katok in 1767, when Getsé was seven years old. Getsé mentions in his  Autobiography that as they climbed the mountain on their final approach to Katok they were in a dark forest until they reached Kumbum Ringmo, where the sun finally became visible. Zhingkyong was in a nine-year retreat

315

Ibid., 167.1.

316

Ibid., 167.2; lo der cis kyang shog gsung ma 'ong na/ 'tshub cha che gsung.

at the time of  the visit and Getsé did not meet him.

317

Mokdrup Namkha

171

Chöwang was available and reconfirmed Getsé's identity as a reincarnate lama of  Katok. Getsé and his father left Katok in the early winter of  1767 and traveled to Dzokchen Monastery on their way back home. At Dzokchen Getsé was received by Dzokchen Wön lama Padma Kundröl Namgyel ( pad+ma kun grol rnam rgyal). Friendly relations with the lamas of Dzokchen Monastery were a constant for Getsé, as they had been for Zhingkyong, Sönam Deütsen, and Longsel before him. Soon afterwards Getsé met two more of the new coterie of trülkus at Katok. The first was Zhichen lama Kunzang Tendzin ( gzhi chen bla ma kun bzang bstan ‘dzin; d. 1776). The Zhichen lamas of  Katok continue to be significant figures in the broader Katok milieu. Zhichen lama cut Getsé's hair, bestowed on him the vows of refuge, and gave him the name Gyurmé Tsewang Chokdrup, whi ch became his primary name. 318 Zhichen also gave Getsé the reading transmission for Longsel Nyingpo’s treasures. Zhichen did not bestow on Getsé the initiations because he had to rush to a retreat. The Chaktsa trülku also came to see the child. In 1769 Getsé ’s father went to see the king of  Degé (or perhaps his representatives) in Horkhok ( hor khog). The point of  the meeting was to hand over Getsé to the government and Katok. His father did not want to lose his only son to the monastery ( kaH thog btang bar ma ‘dod ) and was worried that doing so would 317

Ibid., 167.6; de skabs lo dgu'i bcad rgyas zhal blta ba'i/ skabs ma rnyed.

318

Ibid., 170.1.

involve surrendering ( mgo btags) his community to Degé.

319

In a manner of 

172

speaking, the recognition of the Getsé trülku functioned analogously like a marriage alliance between Dege and the previously restive Getse t ribe. The father's apprehensions were overpowered by the coercive pressure put on him by both the Mazur sub-state of  Trehor and Degé. After the father gave his word that he would send Getsé to Katok, the father and son team returned home and then Getsé quickly set off  for his new home and family: Katok monastery. The monastery was his new household that he was to inherit and look after, and the four reincarnate lamas mentioned above became his father figures and mentors. The First Phase of Getsé's Training and Career

Getsé’s education and training, and eventual career as a high lama of  Katok, can be seen to have two major phases. The first phase spans from his childhood to the death of  his master Zhingkyong in 1786, when Getsé was twenty-six years old. During this formative part of his life, Getsé's training in ritual and contemplation was centered on Longsel's treasures and the treasure cycles of  earlier Nyingma lamas. This phase of  his career does not attest to a strong emphasis on Kama liturgies or studies. The second phase of  his career, by contrast, sees Getsé devoting his considerable institutional resources towards reviving the Kama and establishing a balance between the Kama and Treasure traditions at Katok. In this section we will

319

Ibid., 170.7.

examine the first phase of Getsé's life, to be followed in the next chapter with an

173

examination of the second phase. Getsé was brought to Katok at age seven and enthroned as the reincarnation of Tsewang Trinlé. His main teachers were four of  the most prominent reincarnate lamas of  Katok, and all of  them were in their first generations of  their trülku lines. Getsé’s education in rituals, meditation, and tantra began at age twelve. In 1772 Chaktsa trülku gave him the reading transmission for nine volumes of  an Eight 

Transmitted Precepts (bka’ brgyad ) cycle of treasures. Chaktsa also taught Getsé the strenuous subtle body yogic practices ( rtsa rlung) from Dündül Dorjé’s treasures. Getsé says he mastered the practice of heat yoga in just one month of training. That same year Mokdrup trülku gave him the reading transmissions for Nyangrel's Eight 

Transmitted Precepts cycle called the Gathering of the Sugatas (bder ‘dus) liturgies and all thirteen volumes of  the Gathering of the Guru's Intention (bla ma dgongs

‘dus). Early in 1772 Getsé joined a delegation of Katok lamas on a trip to Pelpung to meet the thirteenth Karmapa Dündül Dorjé ( bdud 'dul rdo rje; 1734-1798).320 Both Getsé and Situ report on the same points: the large size of the Katok contingent, and Karmapa and Situ's performanc e of  the hat ceremonies, and their bestowal of  initiations to the Katok group. 321 Getsé mentions he met with Situ in his private 320

Ibid., 174.2. Getsé says that he was chosen to go because Zhingkyong was in retreat, presumably the nine-year retreat he was in when Getsé first visited the monastery in 1767; rje nyid bcad rgya'i stabs/ bdag  nyid mngags. 321

Compare Ibid., 174.2-175.1 and Situ Pa ṇchen, Autobiography, 682.4-682.5.

quarters where they had a discussion. In fact, Situ already knew of Getsé because

174

he determined the date of  Getsé’s enthronement over a dozen years before. 322 The young lama must have made a very positive impression on Situ, because in the latter’s account of  the visit Getsé is the first Katok lama named, followed by the much more senior Mokdrup. 323 Getsé also had an inspiring friendshi p with Belo Tsewang Kunkhyab ( ‘be lo tshe dbang kun khyab ), Situ Penchen's great student and biographer. He writes that Belo visited him several times during his stay at Pelpung. Later that year Getsé visited Dzokchen monastery and wrote glowing things about the lamas there. Towards the end of  the year Chaktsa gave Getsé another enthronement.324 The following year, 1773, Getsé reunited with Zhichen Kunzang Tendzin, who he met years before when still a child and living with his parents. Zhichen seems to have been the most learned of the Katok trülkus and Getsé began a short but formative tutorial under him. This lama taught the young Getsé many important treasure-based liturgies and contemplations, in addition to Mahāmūdra and the stories of the Buddha’s previous lives (avadana).325

322

Getsé Mahā paṇḍita, Autobiography, 171.5.

323

Situ Peṇchen, Autobiography, 682.4.

324

Getsé Mahā paṇḍita, Autobiography, 177.3.

325

The texts Kunzang Tendzin taught Getsé included Guidance on Mah āmūdra and Great Perfection (khrid yig phyag rdzogs; author unknown), Yeshé Gyeltsen's Ocean of Esoteric Instructions, the Recitation Manual for the Eight Transmitted Precepts (bka’ brgyad bsnyen yig ) by Lochen Dharma śri, and Aryasura’s tales of the previous lives of the Buddhas and the third Karmapa’s retelling.

In 1774, following a nine-year retreat, Zhingkyong gave the initiation for

175

one of the central Kama tantras, the S ūtra that Gathers All Intentions (mdo dbang) to Getsé.326 Zhingkyong also gave him the reading transmission for Lochen Dharmashri's General Exposition of the S ūtra Initiation (mdo dbang spyi don). Additionally, Zhingkyong gave Getsé the reading transmission for an important subcommentary of  the Guhyagarbha; namely, Ranjam Orgyen Chödrak’s (b. 1676)

General Exposition of Lochen Dharma ś ri’s Ornament of the Lord of Secrets’  Intention. Zhingkyong told Getsé that he should memorize the text because later he would have to teach the Guhyagarbha to many assemblies. Getsé quickly memorized it, and did indeed teach it to many students over the course of  his life. Notice that Zhingkyong did not teach him the text, he only gave the reading transmission. Although Getsé’s hagiography of Zhingkyong in the inventory of his reliquary stūpa says that he was a scholar of these texts,327 here and in the record of the next year we see that Zhingkyong only transmitted the texts to Getsé but did not teach them at Katok. While still only fourteen years old, Getsé gave instructions on the practice of  Longsel’s treasures ( klong gsal khrid ) to monks in Golok.328 This was the first of  a lifetime of teachings on Longsel's treasures that Getsé would give throughout Kham and Golok. The next year, 1775, Zhingkyong gave many more reading transmissions 326

Zhingkyong's long retreat ended the preceding year; Ibid., 177.1.

327

Getsé Mahā paṇḍita, Inventory of Zhingkyong's Reliquary , 110.7-114.1.

328

Getsé Mahā paṇḍita, Autobiography, 179.5.

to Getsé, including those for Ngari Pa ṇchen’s Three Vows (root text and

176

commentary), Dündül Dorjé’s Triad of Peaceful and Wrathful deities and Kilaya ( zhi

khro phur gsum), Longsel’s Further Heart of Great Compassionate One (thugs chen  yang snying), and the Minling liturgical collection Excellent Vase of Wish-fulfillment  'dod 'jo bum bzang). Also in 1775 Getsé received sustained instruction on the Guhyagarbha for the first time. Zhichen Kunzang Tendzin taught Getsé the content of Lochen Dharmaśri’s

Ornament of the Lord of Secret’s Intention, the shorter of Lochen's two commentaries on the Guhyagarbha. Note too that the recently composed Minling treatises are circulating at Katok, not commentaries written by past Katok masters. In fact, years later Getsé wrote a supplication to the lamas of the Guhyagarbha instruction lineage which confirms that the lineage transmitted to him stemmed from Mindrölling Monastery rather than being the original Katok lineage. 329 This leads me to assume that the Katok Guhyagarbha instruction lineage had been completely severed during the post-Longsel period. Getsé’s teaching career intensified in 1775 when he taught his first hundredday training session on Longsel’s treasures. In the fall of  that year, the fifteen-yearold Getsé went home to see his family and go on an alms round for dairy products (dkar sdom). While there he gave initiations and reading transmissions to the entire corpus of Longsel's treasures to the local lamas and monks. Getsé then led a hundredday winter training session ( dgun bca’) in Sangshar Vall ey ( gsang shar mda’) in 329

Getsé Mahā paṇḍita, Supplication to the Lineage of the Secret Nucleus.

Dralak ( grwa lag).

330

Getsé would continue to intermittently lead these for the

177

rest of his life in different places in Kham. During this first hundred-day session he instructed the monks in the preliminaries and the yogas of winds and channels on the basis of Longsel's treasures. Getsé states that the study period, four daily sessions of  practice, offerings on the twenty-ninth day of  the last lunar month of  the year ( dgu

gtor ), and other facets, were conducted according to the traditi on maintained in Katok. The first thing Gesté says in his account of 1776 is that the repair of Kumbum Ringmo was finally underway, the most derelict of  the two temples that Tsewang Norbu complained about in his letters charging Zhingkyong with serious neglect of  Katok. Gesté doesn’t name the agent behind the repairs but he uses the honorific form of  the verb to describe the event ( sku 'bum ring mo zhig gso mdzad ), thereby giving credit to one of his lamas for the repairs. 331 The repairs took several years. In the fall of 1776 Getsé received the sad news that his teacher Zhichen trülku Kunzang Tenzin – the only lama to actually teach him the doctrines of the Guhyagarbha – died while on the way back from Lhasa.332 That winter Getsé received from Chaktsa more ini tiations and reading transmissions of Dündül’s treasures, as well as further teachings on Longsel’s subtle

330

Getsé Mahā paṇḍita,  Autobiography, 181.2. Dralak, which is also spelled  grwa legs, is in the abovementioned Getsé Township, Trehor District, Kardzé County, Sichuan. 331

In an early passage in the record for 1774 (Ibid., 179.6) Getsé says that he donated all his grain alms from that year to the renovation of Kumbum Ringmo, thus he was directly involved in the renovation. 332

Ibid., 182.5.

body yogas. The following year, 1777, when Getsé was seventeen years old, he

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received many more reading transmissions of  major treasure cycles from Zhingkyong. He also studied poetry and the literary arts for much of  the year under Mokdrup. Getsé recounts that Situ Penchen – the doyen of classical studies in Degé –  ordered Mokdrup to arrange for the young Getsé to get a good education in the literary arts (sgra) and Mokdrup didn’t want to disregard this master’s order.333 Getsé went on to study the literary arts under several different masters and later became a sought after teacher and author of  treatises on the literary arts. The final volume of  his Collected Works contains his nearly 300 folia -side-long commentary on the

Kalā pasūtra Sanskrit grammar. This year Getsé also studied the rites involved in the Great Tenth Day Festival (tshes bcu chen mo).334 Getsé would later institute this festival as an annua l occurrence at Katok, with the initial funding coming from the Degé royal court. Getsé was busy with rituals, ceremonies, and teaching his own students for all of  1778, and does not record studying under his teachers that year. The biggest event of  the year at Katok was the grand opening ceremony of the newly renovated Kumbum Ringmo. The year before Getsé composed an inventory ( dkar chag) of  the newly renovated temple and it was painted by the side of the main door.335

333

Ibid., 184.3.

334

Ibid., 183.2. Getsé studied the Tsé tradition (rtse lugs) of the Great Tenth Day liturgies under a lama from Dorjédrak Monastery. 335

I have not been able to locate a transcript of this inventory in the extant version of Getsé's Collected 

Works.

Getsé went back to his home region in the fall. His father told him to

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return to Dralak to teach. This was a turning point in his life, because the next year he would found a monastery in Dralak that would be his second home base for the rest of  his life. 336 At Dralak Getsé presided over another long training session. He says this training session was  just like the other one, and therefore probably lasted one hundred days and was centered on Longsel’s treasures. The next spring, in 1779, Zhingkyong visited Dralak and declared the site to indeed be Getsé’s home base ( ste

gnas).337 Dralak Monastery was promptly built and Getsé proclaimed that founding a monastery there fulfilled the wishes of every one in Getse, Serta, Do, and Golok ( ge

gser rdo dang ‘gu log yul kun).338 Getsé gave the monks of  his new monastery the reading transmission of the Vinaya before returning to Katok at the onset of winter. In 1780 Getsé, now aged 20, made his first trip to southern Kham, down to Lithang and Bathang. From this point on Getsé traveled to southern Kham every few years, signifying that it was a major venue for his fundraising and teaching activities. On this first trip he went to attend the funeral of the chief of Shaksar ( gzhag gsar ) in Lithang. Longsel Nyingpo, of  course, was from this area and taught at Shaksar. 339

336

Ibid., 185.4. Nevertheless the move to Dralak began against the backdrop of tensions between the locals and Mokdrup and Getsé says the local people were initially unwelcoming to him. Getsé does not divulge any details about the conflict between the two parties, yet he implies that a resolution was reached this year. 337

Ibid., 185.6.

338

Cf.,  History of the Monasteries of Kardzé Prefecture , v. 1, 122-130, for a recent historical profile of  Dralak Monastery. 339

Getsé remained connected to Shak for his entire life, traveling there again and again over the years. His Collected Works also contains a few works composed for the leaders of Shak. For instance,  Inventory to a Collection of Precious Scriptures ( gsung rab rin po che'i dkar chag thar pa'i dga' ston; vol. 9, pp. 31-40).

During this trip Getsé visited several Longsel treasures sites. In the first months

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of the next year, 1781, Getsé led a 100-day training session at Dechen Monastery in Batang. Getsé describes the event as follows, "While staying at Dechen Monastery for 100 days I trained the assembly of lamas and monks in the mūdras and recitation ('don bsgrigs) of  the Three Buddha Bodies ritual, as well as giving them the initiations, reading transmissions, and instructions of the Longsel dharma cycles." 340 Getsé returned to Katok before the end of the year. This year, 1781, marks the beginning of  Getsé’s closer relations with the royal court. Zhingkyong was asked to preside over an elaborate ceremony in which blessed pills are produced and consecrated (Mani Bumdrup; ma Ni bum sgrub) at the Changra palace ( lcang ra pho brang). The chief  royal involved was the prince Sawang Zangpo (sad bang bzang po). Two years later Getsé would attend this crown prince's marriage and act as one of the chief  chaplains to he and his wife. His bride Tsewang Lhamo  – daughter of  the chief  of  Garjé, in far southern Degé  – became a stalwart supporter of Nyingma lamas in Degé and one of Getsé's chief sponsors. In 1783 Getsé traveled widely through Nyakrong (nyag rong), where there are many Katok bran ch monasteries. In 1784 Zhingkyong received a letter from the Qingwang (Tib. ching wam; 親王) Sönam Dorjé (bsod nams rdo rje).341 A chingwang 340

Getsé Mahā paṇḍita, Autobiography, 188.5; bde chen dgon/ zhag brgya bsdad nas bla gra 'dus tshogs la/ klong gsal chos skor dbang lung khrid bcas sogs/ sku gsum cho ga'i phyag rgya 'don bsgrigs bslabs. The Three Buddha Bodies Ritual belongs to Longsel Nyingpo's primary cycle of treasures, the Innermost Spirituality of Indestructible Radiant Space (Longsel Dorjé Nyingpo; klong gsal rdo rje snying po). The key text of the Three Buddha Bodies Ritual is the sku gsum zhi khro'i cho ga bla med snying po (found in Volume One of his Collected Treasures). 341

It is unclear why Getsé writes this word as chingwam, with an m suffix.

was the highest rank of Mongolian nobility and means king or prince of the first

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order. The  Annals of Kokonor was completed in 1786, and puts Sönam Dorjé at the head of  its list of  the leaders of  the Banner of  the Left Side of  the Ma River ( rma

chu).342 This attests to the Oirat Mongols’ ongoing patronage of  Nyingma lamas, beginning with Longsel’s patron Khandro. 343 The Qingwang was a title given to princely descendents of  Guśri Khan who were leaders of  tribes a round Lake Kokonor. Sönam Dorjé was the Chingwam of  the left side of  the Machu River. Mokdrup Rinpoche died at the end of 1785. The first Mokdrup established himself at Katok sufficiently such that his reincarnation would inherit the high status of the first Mokdrup at the monastery. Getse’s recognition and training of  the second Mokdrup will be covered in the following chapter. In 1785 Getsé traveled to Tromthog ( khrom thog) and met generous patrons. They gave him money to use as a trust ( thebs) to finance the annual Tenth Day Festivals. Getsé says that this money complemented the money he raised "on foot" (rkang ‘gros thebs sbyar ) and was enough to institute an annual festival.344 Later this year another letter and delegation of officials and monks from the Qingwang Sönam Dorjé arrived and they invited Getsé to “Mongolia” ( sog yul), i.e. Mongolian inhabited areas of northeastern Tibet. Zhingkyong ordered him to go, probably in his

342

Yang, Annals of Kokonor, 53.

343

Of course it was reported that Khandro was assassinated because of his conversion to Nyingma lamas  but as we can see with later Oirat involvement with Dzokchen and now Katok lamas, this sectarian excuse is not very convincing. 344

Ibid., 193.4.

place. Getsé went to Amdo with them and spent over one year touring

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monasteries and nomad communities in Qinghai and Gansu.345 An account of his trip deserves a detailed study elsewhere. In 1786 he concluded his trip to Mongolia and Amdo and returned to Dralak. While there, Zhingkyong passed away in the eleventh lunar month of the year. In his

 Autobiography Getsé emphasizes that lamas from all the regional Nyingma and Kagyü monasteries sent their condolences. At the beginning of  the next year, 1787, Getsé left for Central Trip where he made offerings at all the important temples in order to raise merit for Zhingkyong (dgongs rdzogs). Thus in the space of three years the two main lamas of  Katok  – Zhingkyong and Mokdrup  – passed, leaving the twenty-six-year old Getsé in charge of the monastery. We will see in the next chapter that he used this newfound power, and status as senior reincarnate lama at a very young age, to institute a far-reaching change to Katok. The preceding discussion of  Getsé has ignored one central topic of  the chapter, monasticism. In other words, was Getsé a monk? Did he follow his teacher Zhingkyong and take up celibate monasticism? For some reason Getsé does not recount in his  Autobiography any ordinations (novice nor full) that he might have undergone during his life, nor does he ever mention giving any ordinations. The work is written in verse and omits many of  the quotidian details that are found in great quantities in diary -format autobiographies such as Situ Penchen's. However, one's ordinations are major life cycle rituals that a contemporary reader would not 345

Ibid., 193.7-198.2.

expect to be omitted, and yet Getsé never mentions any. Relying solely on the

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 Autobiography one might conclude that Getsé did not follow his lama Zhingkyong and become an ordained monk. The colophons of  Getsé's writings, though, supplement the self -representation found in the  Autobiography and indicate that Getse was indeed involved in the monastic revival movement in eighteenth century Degé. Getsé refers to himself as a monk on several occasions in the colophons to the titles in his Collected Works. For instance, in the  Notes on the Explanation of the

General Exposition of the Guhyagarbha Getsé signs off  by calling himself  a lazy monk ( ban+de snyom las pa; bhante).346 In another text he signs off  as a "monk of  the Degénerate age" ( snyigs dus kyi ban+de; bhante)347 Getsé's most well circulated composition is certainly his  Index to the Degé edition of the Collected Tantras of the

 Nyingmapa, which he edited. In the colophon of this work Getsé identifies himself as "the lowliest of the subjects of the dharma lord of Katok, the Shakya monk (shakya'i

btsun pa; bhadanta) Gyurmé Tsewang Chokdrup." 348 It remains a conundrum why Getsé did not record the occasion of his ordination(s) in his  Autobiography, but it is clear from passages such as these that in important texts Getsé presented himself as a monk. Up until this point in Getsé's  Autobiography he represents himself  as receiving a training dominated by Longsel and Dundül's treasures, and also 346

p. 397.6.

347

Extoling the Deeds of the Buddha (thub pa'i mdzad par bsngags pa dad pa'i me tog), 13.2

348

Index to the Collected Tantras of the Nyingmapa, 393.1. chos kyi rje kaH thog pa'i 'bangs kyi tha shal du gyur pa shakya'i btsun pa 'gyur med tshe dbang mchog grub.

influenced to some degree by recent developments at Mindrölling Monastery.

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Zhingkyong, Mokdrup, Chaktsa, and Zhichen welcomed the young Getsé into the growing circle of  reincarnate lamas at Katok, and with only one notable exception train him in a way that diverges sharply from the earlier curricula at Katok. Getsé quickly mastered the practices of the Katok treasures and taught them around Kham at numerous one hundred-day teaching sessions. Furthermore, we see that the earlier academic tradition of  Katok had been nearly severed. Getsé makes no mention of  receiving teachings or reading transmissions of  any of  the earlier Katok classics. Rather his brief  studies of  Kama topics were transmitted through the Mindrölling tradition (i.e., the General Exposition of the S ūtra Initiation and the Guhyagarbha commentaries). This training can be characterized as quite different from the study program that flourished for centuries earlier in Katok’s history. The next chapters examines how after Getse became the senior lama at Katok, he did a startling about face and began a new initiative to reinstate the full panoply of  Kama rituals and studies, in marked contrast to the culture into which his own teachers initiated him. Conclusion

This sketch of religion in Degé in the middle to late eighteenth century allows for several conclusions about core featur es and emerging trends at the larger Nyingma monasteries in the region. For one, we see that the royal court and the heads of the major monasteries maintained close relations over the generations. This suggests that the growth of  the kingdom and monasterie s progressed in mutually

advantageous ways, such as with the rise of  state -overseen reincarnate lamas.

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Getse’s recognition  – in which the son of  a chieftain of  a troublesome tribe on the fringes of  the kingdom is identified as a lama of  a royal monastery  – is a good example of  collaboration between state and monastery in the furthering and administration of  the trülku tradition in Degé. The ascendancy of  reincarnate lamas at Katok had a profound impact on the internal dynamics of  the monastery as well. Although Tsewang Norbu complained bitterly in the 1750s about the trülku upstarts at Katok, by that time it was already a  fait accompli. The reincarnated lamas maintained their power generation after generation, through to the present, thereby permanently transforming the office and succession of the monastery's leadership. This chapter also shows that celibate monasticism was an emerging trend at the local Nyingma monasteries, but unevenly distributed. We saw that certain segments of Katok and Pelyül participated in Situ's numerous ordination ceremonies. Because of  the fragmentary historical record, we simply do not know exactly how many of the residents at Katok were ordained monks. It is known, though, that head lamas such as Zhingkyong and Getsé were monks. In fact contemporary Katok lamas claim that the current ordination lineage of Katok is that very lineage stemming from Zhingkyong and presumably passing through Getsé. We also see that some of  the Kama liturgies for which Katok was originally well known – especially the initiation of the S ūtra That Gathers All Intentions  – were still actively maintained. Yet it is apparent from Getsé’s account of his training that the earlier scholastic traditions of 

study were in serious decline, as Getsé does not mention being taught a single

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treatise composed by any of pre- Longsel Katok scholars. On balance, Katok in the later eighteenth century was a vibrant monastery. Despite the criticisms and machinations of Tsewang Norbu, the reincarnate lamas at Katok's helm had not ruined the monastery. Rather, this was a period of growth and change. The following chapter will show how the mature Getse made certain targeted changes to the new Katok, while maintaining most of the traditions he inherited from Zhingkyong and others. After the death of  his teachers, Getsé had a certain awakening about the sorry state of  the Kama at Katok and resolved to revive the Kama mandalas and study. An interesting facet of  Getse’s campaign is that he reintroduced the Kama in a non-oppositional manner, finding a balance between the roles of  the treasures and Kama in the overall ritual, contemplative, and academic programs at Katok.

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Chapter Four: The Revival of the Kama and Codification of  Longsel Nyingpo's Treaures at Katok

The preceding chapter covered Getsé's training and earl y teaching career. This period in his life was characterized by an overriding involvement with Longsel Nyingpo's treasures, with the Kama having a lesser role in Getsé's studies and teaching. During Getsé's mature period  – the 1790s to his death in 1829  –  he deepened his engagments with both Longsel's terma and the Kama, and had a profound impact on both and Katok Monastery. At middle age Getsé led a radical transformation of  Katok that was to have a longterm impact on the future of  the institution. This ch apter examines three of  his main innovations during this time. Firstly, Getsé revived the ritual practice and tantric exegesis of the Kama after more than a century of  dormancy. This revival was driven by the invitation of  teachers from Mindroling to transmit their distinctive initiations and ritual expertise to the monks at Katok and by Getsé's own repeated teaching of  the Mindroling commentaries on the core Guhyagarbha tantra. Secondly, Getsé wrote liturgies and instructional manuals for strategically chosen treasures of  Longsel, which he then established as prominent features in Katok's ritual and contemplative programs. The third section of this chapter explores how Getsé made Katok the premiere center for the study of the Kama in Degé.

188 Getsé's Revival of Kama Rituals and Tantric Exegesis

In the early 1790s Getsé made the practice and study of  the Kama a central feature of  the liturgical and scholastic programs at Katok after a century of  their historical eclipse in Kham by the resurgent treasure traditions. This renaissance of  the Kama was initiated in 1791 with Getsé and the third Dzokchen Rinpoché jointly inviting lamas from Mindroling Monastery to Degé to transmit Kama rituals and doctrine to the local Nyingma monks. Getsé’s aim was not to turn the tables and begin to promote the Kama at the expense of the treasures but instead to integrate the Kama and treasure traditions within the institutional fabric of  Katok. Interestingly, Getsé chose to not revive Katok’s own renowned Kama heritage, but rather focused on the Central Tibetan Kama traditions of Mindröling. In fact, Getsé's Autobiography and writings on the Kama indicate he was not interested in the Katok Kama per se. His interest was in the Kama itself  without any concern for Katok’s distinct transmissions of  it. This section analyzes the initial events of  the revival as represented in the  Autobiography and then look at Getsé's efforts to spread the teachings at Katok and its branch monasteries through preaching and composition. One factor that might have been important in providing Getsé with the intellectual and administrative freedom to attempt this bold move was the recent passing of his teachers. Mokdrup died in 1784 and Zhingkyong passed away in 1786. The year after Zhingkyong's death, 1787, Getsé traveled to Ütsang to perform meritmaking activities on behalf  of  his master. This was Getsé's first and only trip to

Central Tibet and along the way he met with Jikmé Lingpa (1729 -1798), the

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single most influential treasure revealer of  the late-eighteenth century. 349 Getsé only spent two days with Jikmé Lingpa but during that time the treasure revealer initiated Getsé into all of  his treasures, including the famed cycle of  Dzokchen treasures called the  Innermost Spirituality of the Great Expanse ( Longchen Nyingtik; klong

chen snying thig). Despite being an accomplished tertön, Jikmé Lingpa devoted much time to compiling a collection of  the Collected Tantras of the Nyingmapa , the scriptural arm of the Kama. Dudjom Rinpoché describes his efforts,350 Above all , during that age the teaching of  the Ancient Translation School had everywhere become sparse. …He had copies made, using the finest supplies and materials, of  all the pecious tantras of  the Nyingmapa tradition which were to be found at Mindröling, some twenty-five volumes… Previously there had been neither a detailed catalogue, nor a verified history, compiled on this topic, but, because his brilliance was profound and vast in connection with the three logical axioms, this venerable master composed the Narrative History

349

Getsé Mahā paṇḍita,  Autobiography, 204.2. For more on his life see Gyatso,  Apparitions of the Self  and Dudjim Rinpoche,  Nyingma School of Tibetan Budhism, 835-840. Traditional biographies of Jikmé Lingpa are found in Dudjom Rinpoche,  Nyingma School of Buddhism, and (in Tibetan) Jikmé Lingpa,  Autobiographies. The latter contains a number of biographical writings, including his long outer  autobiography and secret biographies. 350

The Nyingma School of Tibetan Buddhism , 838-839. For more on this Jikmé Lingpa's catalog and its influence on Getsé, see Achard, "La liste des Tantras du rNying ma’i rgyud ‘bum selon l’édition établie par  Kun mkhyen ‘Jigs med gling pa" and "Rig ‘dzin Tshe dbang mchog grub (1761-1829) et la constitution du rNying ma rgyud ‘bum de sDe dge."

of the Precious Collected Tantras of the Ancient Translation

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School, the Ornament Covering all Jambudv ī  pa. I argue that Getsé's emerging resolve to revive the Kama was deeply inspired by his meetind with Jikmé Lingpa. Years Later when Getsé edited the Degé edition of the Collected Tantras of the Nyingmapa his primary source of texts and model of  arrangement was Jikmé Lingpa's manuscript edition mentioned above.351 Getsé would later be a close collaborator of  this lama's main student Do Drupchen (rdo grub chen; 1745-1821), and would be a key teacher of Jigmé Lingpa's own reincarnation Do Khyentsé Yeshé Dorjé ( mdo mkhyen brtse ye shes rdo rje). Getsé wanted to also visit Mindroling Monastery but was prevented from doing so due to an epidemic in th e area. He returned to Katok late in 1788 after a  journey taking more than a year. The spring after his return from Central Tibet Getsé became close with the third Dzokchen Rinpoché Ati Tenpé Gyeltsen ( a ti bstan pa'i rgyal mtshan , d. 1792) his eventual partner in the campaign to revive the Kama in Kham. In the account of  their meeting at the annual "consecration of  the ritual vase" (bumdrup; bum sgrub) ceremony at the Changra palace in Degé, Getsé says they had a heart -to-heart meeting ( zhib mjal).352 Later that year at another gathering of  lamas called by Degé, the third Dzokchen Rinpoché was "not steady on his feet" ( zhabs pad ma brtan) and 351

Achard, "Rig ‘dzin Tshe dbang mchog grub (1761-1829) et la constitution du rNying ma rgyud ‘bum de sDe dge," 43; L’une des éditions les plus importantes fut la première version xylographique (en 26 volumes) basée sur le catalogue de ‘Jigs med gling pa…" "

352

Getsé Mahā paṇḍita, Autobiography, 213.4.

Getsé had to perform certain ritual dances in his place.

353

The following year,

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1790, king Sawang Zangpo died while still in his early twenties. 354 All the court chaplains in Degé  – including Getsé and the third Dzokchen Rinpoché  – were consumed with the funeral services for almost the entire year. These two important Nyingma reincarnate lamas of  nearly the same age would hav e had many opportunities that year to exchange views, though because of  decorum Getsé does not mention in his  Autobiography any socializing that may have taken place during the funeral services. Getsé and the Dzokchen lama met again at the annual bumdrup ceremony in 1791 and had very intense discussions (gsung mchid zhib gnang).355 In 1791 Getsé and Dzokchen Rinpoché went beyond mere conversation to launch a practical agenda in regards to their respective monasteries and shared Nyingma sect. This year they se t in motion a momentous transformation at their respective monasteries by systematically reestablishing the Kama. The revival of the Kama was accomplished by inviting key teachers from Mindroling who had the requisite transmissions and were expert in the rituals and doctrines. Getsé gives all the credit for this to Dzokchen Rinpoché but Getsé is simply being humble. 356 For one, humility in Tibetan autobiographical writing is the norm. Furthermore we have 353

Ibid., 214.1.

354

The previous year Sawang Zangpo seemed to be well. Getsé recounts in the  Autobiography (213.6) that in the summer of 1789 the royal family came to Katok to celebrate the Tenth Day Festival. Getsé remarks that the young king, whose wedding he attended several years before, came dressed in the outfit of a lay tantric practitioner (sngags 'changs ). 355

Ibid., 216.5.

356

Ibid., 216.6.

seen that in the year leading up to the arrival of the Mindroling lamas, Getsé and

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Dzokchen Rinpoché met several times and held intense discussions. Regardless of  whether the initial planning to invite the Mindroling lamas was the work of  Dzokchen Rinpoché, Getsé was a firm supporter and central partner in the overall process. And as we will see, Getsé certainly took full advantage of  the visiting teachers and spread their teachings to Katok. The first mention of  the Kama revival in the Autobiography states,357 Dzokchen Rinpoché generated concern for the Nyingma teachings. In order to establish the accomplishment and offering ceremonies of  the thirteen ma ṇḍalas of  the amazing S ūtra,  Magical Net, and so on, intelligent lamas and teachers of  the ma ṇḍalas, drawing, measuring, operas, melodies, dances, and mūdras came (to Degé) from Akani ṣṭa Mindrölling (in 1791). The thirteen ma ṇḍalas comprise a collection of  the principal deities of  the Kama that were codified in the context of Anuyoga ritual developments. 358 The vast majority of the ma ṇḍalas derive from Mahayoga tantras, but the organizing principle

357

Getsé Mahā paṇḍita, Autobiography, 216.6; rdzogs chen rin po ches/ snga 'gyur bstan la thugs bskyed rmad byung gi/ mdo sgyu la sogs dkyil 'khor bcu gsum gyi/ sgrub mchod tshug par 'og smin gling nas/ dkyil 'khor bri thig 'cham dbyangs gar phyag rgya'i/ slob dpon bla ma slo ldan phebs 'dug pas... 358

See Dalton, The Uses of the Dgongs Pa 'Dus Pa'i Mdo in the Development of the Rnying-Ma School of  Tibetan Buddhism, Appendix VI, for a detailed description of the elaborate festival of the Thirteen Kama Maṇḍalas

is the Great Gathering of  the Anuyoga.

359

Getsé also enumerates the ritual,

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technical, and contemplative knowledge possessed by these visiting masters. While Getsé is not specific, I strongly suspect that that these visiting lamas primarily or exclusively taught the new Mindrölling liturgies of  the Kama composed by Terdak Lingpa and Lochen Dharmaśri. The Degé royal court celebrated the visit from the Mindrölling lamas and "provided the funds for a feast and the merit was dedicated (accordingly)."360

Guru Trashi's History also has a brief  account of  the third Dzokchen Rinpoché's revival of  the Kama in Degé. It occurs in the context of  the third Dzokchen Rinpoché's life story, as part of  its history of  Dzokchen Monastery, and thus portrays it as his work alone. The passage reads,361 "In accordance with the prophecy made by Do rjé Drak Rigdzin Chenpo, (Dzokchen Rinpoché) newly and precisely instituted the practices from Orgyen Mindrölling of  the Nyingma Kama. Chief  among them were the amazing festivities of  the thirteen ma ṇḍalas of  the Great Gathered Assembly and  Magical Net , (including) the

359

No Atiyoga ma ṇḍalas are performed because that vehicle transcends deities and ma ṇḍalas. This is the reason Getsé writes that the lamas from Mindroling transmitted the ma ṇḍalas from the Sūtra, Illusion, "and so on," not completing the Trio of S ūtra, Magical Net, and Mind Series (mdo sgyu sems gsum ). 360 361

Ibid., 217.1; sde dges dgyes ston yon gnang bsngo rgyas btab.

Ngawang Lodrö, Guru Trashi’s History, 803, khyad par rdo brag rig ‘dzin chen po’i lung bstan dang rjes su mthun par rnying ma bka’ ma tshogs chen ‘dus pa dang sgyu ‘phrul gtso bor gyur pa’i dkyil ‘khor bcu gsum gyi sgrub mchod ngo mtshar che ba/ gar thig dbyangs rol bcas bshams/s grigs lam thams cad o rgyan smin grol gling pa’i phyag bzhes ji lta ba bzhin gsar ‘dzugs dang.

194 arrangements of  the dances, measurements (of  the ma ṇḍalas), chants, music, and all the behavioral regulations." This passage continues by listing all of  the ritual implements, musical instruments, costumes, and images the Dzokchen Rinpoché procured for the performance of these festivities at Dzokchen. After their arrival in Degé, Getsé invited the Mindrölling lamas to come to Katok to teach the Kama ma ṇḍalas to him and his monks. He wr ites, "Because I wanted to institute the assemblage of main (Kama) deities at the see of Katok, I made a request about such and they happily accepted (to come to Katok at some point during their stay)." 362 Before the Mindrölling lamas could come to Katok, though, Getsé had to complete construction on Zhingkyong's reliquary stupa, compose its memorial  Inventory of Zhingkyong's Reliquary, and hold the consecration ceremony. Shortly after the conclusion of  several year's worth of  funerary obligations to his master Zhinkyong, the Mindrölling teachers arrived at Katok and issued in a new era at the monastery. In the middle of 1791 the Mindrölling teachers and Dzokchen Rinpoché came to Katok to transmit the Kama rituals. This was carried out in a systematic way in which the visiting lamas trained a class of  fifty Katok monks over several months. The relevant passage reads, "The master teachers from Minling arrived and I received them. We spoke in great detail. On the day of  a good planet and date, the 362

Getsé Mahā paṇḍita, Autobiography, 216.7; kaH thog gdan sar gtso bstus tshugs ‘dod pas/ de tshul snyan  phul dgyes bzhin zhal bzhes gnang phyi nang gsang ba’i bka’ ‘phros smar bar mdzad.

excellent inca rnation (Dzokchen) Rinpoché accepted the responsibility and

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administered the commencement of  the training of  about fifty monks." 363 However, Getsé did not stay for the course and instead traveled to his personal monastery, Dralak Gön. At his monastery Getsé led another training session – "just like the prior ones" ( sngar mtshungs)  – and also composed a monastic customary for its retreat center.364 Getsé was then called back early to Degé for rituals, after which he returned to Katok. Getsé doesn't mention meeting the Mindrölling lamas again, but does say that when he arrived the monks were performing the rituals for the first time and he was very overjoyed (thog mar btsugs 'dug yid rab spro bar byung).365 Getsé and Dzokchen were doubtlessly very pleased with the successful execution of  their plans. The royal court was supportive, the ranking Sakya lama at court participated to some degree, and the monks at Katok (and presumably at Dzokchen too) gained competence in the Kama maṇḍalas. In order to round out their training in the Kama, Getsé would also need to train his monks in the tantric commentaries of  the key Kama doctrinal text, the Secret Nucleus. Nevertheless a certain number of figures at Katok expressed criticism of these changes to the recent program at Katok. Getsé writes, "I heard that some people said, 'We didn't have this

363

Getsé Mahā paṇḍita, Autobiography, 218.3; de’i ‘phral smin gling slob dpon phebs byung bar/ mjal ‘phrad ‘byor ston gsung ‘phros zhib smar byung/ gza’ tshes bzang nyin mchog sprul rin po ches/ thugs khur   bzhes nas ‘dus pa lnga bcu skor/ bslab sbyang dbu btsugs bkod ‘doms. 364

Ibid., 218.4. The  Monastic Customary  for  Dralak  Retreat Center  (bkra lag sgrub sde'i bca' yig sogs ) will be discussed in a later section of this chapter. 365

Ibid., 219.1

before. He is being fickle ( a gsar ).'"

366

Some of  the complaints may have come

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from partisans of  the Longsel treasures who were worried that the Kama might displace the predominance of  the treasures. In time their fears would be allayed as Getsé did not seek to establish the Kama as the primary, much less exclusive, ritual focus of Katok. Other detractors who complained about Getsé introducing foreign elements at Katok might have been concerned not about the treasures losing status  per se but about the adoption of  another monastery's Kama traditions. We saw in the previous chapter that Mindrölling's Kama traditions were already circulating at Katok by the time of  Getsé's youth, as Zhingkyong and Zhichen trained him in the Mindrölling exegetical traditional of the S ūtra Initiation and Secret Nucleus. Later in this section we will show that Getsé's major writings on the Secret Nucleus were based entirely on the Mindrölling tradition and that he did not write any commentaries on the writings of  early Katok scholars of  the Kama. Thus it is eminently reasonable to assume that some of  the people who complained he was being "fickle" were concerned that he was importing wholesale the Kama traditions of a new monastery, while neglecting to revive Katok’s own rich heritage.367 In his  Autobiography Getsé shares some of  his defense to the critics of  his campaign to revive the Kama. Firstly he asserts that historically the Kama was at the 366 367

Ibid., 219.2, ‘ga’ zhigs ngar med ag gsar [read a gsar] byed zer thos.

A counter argument might be that this only proves that all the Katok lineages were defunct by this time and that he could not revive teaching lineages whose lines of continuous transmission had been cut. This may be but Getsé never says as much. He simply ignores the Katok tradition, without giving any excuses for why he did not revive them.

core of  Katok's religious program, and is thus not either alien or new. Secondly

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he turns the tables and indicts those Nyingma followers who have abandoned the Kama for practicing a degenerate form of the religion. Getsé's first line of defense is reminiscent of  Tsewang Norbu's pessimistic history of  Katok. Getsé claims that the Kama was a Katok specialty from the monastery's founding up through the Drung masters.368 Not only that, during these many centuries Katok masters were actually exporting the tradition to other communities throughout Tibet. The implication was that at present Katok is regretfu lly on the receiving end of  the circulation of  the Kama. Getsé writes,369 That (which we are reestablishing) is the Katok dharma. The thirteen generations of lamas  – (beginning with) Dampa, Tsangtön, and Jampa  – up through the thirteen generations of  Drungs propagated the S ūtra,

 Magical Net , and  Mind Series throughout central, western and eastern Tibet. During the intermediate period ( bar skabs) the Katok teachings fluctuated. Subsequently the Mindrölling brothers became concerned and revived the teachings of the Trio of S ūtra, Magical Net, and Mind . I am emulating their rekindling of  the embers of  the teachings. I explain that (the Kama) is our ancestral dharma but nobody 368

Tsewang Norbu and Getsé disagree, however, on the Drung lamas. Tsewang Norbu saw them as having harmed the teachings. 369

Ibid., 219.2; de ni kaH thog chos yin te/ dam gtsang byams gsum bla rabs bcu gsum dang/ drung rabs  bcu gsum yan chad mdo sgyu sems/ dbus gtsang khams gsum kun la dar bar mdzad/ bar skabs kaH thog  bstan pa 'phel 'grib byung/ slad nas smin gling sku mched thugs bskyed kyis/ mdo sgyu sems gsum bstan pa slong mdzad las/ bstan pa'i me ro gso ba'i lugs su byas/ pha chos yin par bshad kyang go mkhan med rnying ma'i grub mtha' gzhung shing yo ga gsum/ de yi snying po mdo sgyu sems gsum yin rgyu mtshan cung zad go nas 'bad pas btsal.

understands. The central pillar of  the Nyingma tenet system is the

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Triad of Yogas, the essence of which is the Trio of S ūtra, Magical Net,

and Mind Series. Once they understand this reasoning a little they exert themselves (in the Kama). As asserted before, Getsé's approach to the revival of  the Kama was nonoppositional and did not involve an attempt to marginaliz e the treasures at the expense of the Kama. However, in this passage Getsé is indirectly critical of Longsel Nyingpo and the treasures. The intermediate period during which the teachings "fluctuated" ( 'phel 'grib) - a polite way of saying deteriorate - is precisely the era of  Longsel Nyingpo and his immediate successors. Getsé is not blaming Longsel for the degeneration of  the teachings but the association can be read into this periodization of Katok's history. Getsé also implies that the Kama is more ortho dox than the treasures. The trio of the three yogas  – Maha, Anu, and Ati  – is common to both the Kama and treasure systems, but Getsé says that the essences of these three are their respective Kama traditions: the S ūtra Which Gathers All Intentions , Magical Net , and the Mind Series tantras such as the All-Creating King. The treasures are not explicitly excluded from being considered a component of the essence of the Nyingma system, but neither does Getsé label them as such. This lengthy passage about Getsé's reintroduction of the Kama at Katok shifts midway through to an offensive posture and makes strong condemnations of  his

contemporary Nyingma brethren. They are faulted for abandoning the Kama for

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mere ritualism, and then for not even practicing the rituals correctly:370 These days some lamas and monks who declare themselves to be Nyingma have not (even encountered) simply the name of  our tradition's essential tenet system, not to mention striving to study it. With respect to even merely the regular rituals, exorcism, and threadcross done to make a living, they do not even think that they need the (pertinent) initiations, transmissions, retreats, and abilities. Alas! Regarding this decline of the Teachings, some people from other sects say, "All contemporary Nyingmapas have lapsed into exorcism, thread-cross, and the triad of suppression, burnt offerings, and casting out of tormas ( mnan sreg 'phang gsum). Therefore (the Trio of) Sūtra, Magical Net, and Mind Series  – the essence of the Nyingma teachings  – have long ago dissipated into the dharmadhatu." There are numerous impartial statements like that. This quote is obviously describing a segment of the population of both village lamas and monks at backwoods monasteries, who operate in remote villages and perform a repertoire of "worldly" rituals such as healings, deity ransoms, and threadcrosses. Here Getsé is exploiting an apparently deep -seated tension between them 370

Ibid., 219.5; deng dus rnying mar khas len bla grwa 'ga'/ rang lugs grub mtha'i snying po ming tsam yang/ thos pa don gnyer lta ci za chog gi/ rim gro gto mdos tsam la'ang dbang lung dang/ bsnyen pa las rung dgos snyam sems las med/ kyi hud 'di 'dra bstan pa'i 'grib lugs la/ gzhan phyogs 'ga' yis deng sus rnying ma pa/ thams cad gto mdos mnan sreg 'phang gsum la/ 'byams pas rnying bstan snying po mdo sgyu sems/ chos dbyings klong thim yun ring songs zhes zer/ gzu bor gnas pa'i gsung de shin tu mang.

and elite monastics in order to promote his new value system in which the Kama

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must be accepted as the pinnacle of  rituals and doctrines, and become mainstream again. In painting the Nyingma world in the stark terms of  either scholars of  the Kama or barefoot priests, Getsé can be seen to suggest that those who do not worship the Kama the way he does are no better than village priests. At the end of  this excerpt Getsé references the impartial ( gzu bor gnas pa) condemnation of contemporary Nyingmas by those of other sects. It can be said with some certainty that he is alluding to Tuken Lozang Chökyi Nyima's (thu'u bkwan blo

bzang chos kyi nyi ma ; 1737-1802) 1802 history and doctrinal analysis of the Tibetan sects called the Crystal Mirror of Philosophical Systems (grub mtha' thams cad kyi

khungs dang 'dod tshul ston pa legs bshad shel gyi me long ).371 Of  course this work was written over ten years after the event described in Getsé's  Autobiography, but considering that Getsé did not write his life story until right before his death in the 1820s, and the similar phrasing of the two texts, it is likely that Getsé is alluding to Tuken in this passage. In fact, we know from Dudjom Rinpoché's 1966  Nyingma

School of Tibetan Buddhism that at least some Nyingma apologists responded to Tuken's work. For instance in the English translation of  Dudjom Rinpoché's

371

An English translation by Geshe Sopa, et. al. and edited by Roger Jackson is in press. It will be  published as part of the Institute of Tibetan Classics' translation series called the Library of Tibetan Classics. The title of this volume will be The Crystal Mirror of Philosophical Systems: A Tibetan Study of Asian Religious Thought.

presentation of the Ningma tradition, we find the following excerpt from Tuken's

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Crystal Mirror of Philosophical Systems ,372 "A long time has passed since all the essential doctrines of the trilogy of the S ūtra which Gathers All Intentions , the  Magical Net , and the

 Mental Class and so forth vanished into the primordial purity of  original space. The Nyingmapa of today merely treat as essential such mimicry as the chanting of  ritual manuals, the material elaboration of  feast offerings, and the rites of  suppression, burnt offerings, casting out of tormas (mnan sreg 'phang gsum), et cetera…." After recounting the reintroduction of  the Kama to Katok, defending his critics, and lashing out at Nyingmapas that he feels are not being true to the tradition, Getsé closes out the record for 1791 with a statement about some of his own efforts to revive the Kama; his humble "emulation" ( lugs su byas pa) of  the work of  the great Mindrölling brothers. Getsé remarks,373 I have given the initiation for the  Magical Net many times. Furthermore, hundreds of  times I have entreated upon the guides that uphold the Nyingma teachings not to disregard the preaching, study,

372

The Nyingma School of Tibetan Buddhism , 735-736. Dudjom Rinpoche, however, quotes this assertion

 by Tuken to refute it. He does not call it an "impartial statement," as Getsé did. Getsé many polemical works – two of which are directed at Geluk lamas – are deserving of a separate study. 373

Getsé Mahā paṇḍita, Autobiography, 219.7; bdag gis sgyu 'phrul dbang tshar mang po bskur/ slar yang rnying bstan 'dzin mdzad 'dren pa rnams/ bstan pa'i gzhung shing mdo sgyu sems gsum sogs/ bka' ma'i  bstan pa 'chad spel gsan gsum la/ gal chung mi mdzad gsol ba lan brgyar 'debs.

202 and contemplation of  the Kama teachings, i.e., the Trio of S ūtra,

 Magical Net, and Mind Series  – the central pillar of the teachings. The initial reintroduction of  the Kama to the Nyingma monasteries in Degé was a collaborative effort by Getsé and the third Dzokchen Rinpoché in 1791. Unfortunately the very next year Dzokchen Rinpoché passed away. Getsé mentioned in the record for 1789 that he was ill but the actual cause of  his early death is not disclosed. He was only 34 years old. From this point on Getsé was now at the helm of this campaign to revive the Kama. He reestablished it on firm footing at Katok and also took bold steps to promote it throughout Kham. Below we will survey his endeavor to spread the exegetical tradition of the Secret Nucleus tantra and publish a new edition of  the Collected Tantras of the Nyingmapa (the repository of  tantras on which the Kama rituals, contemplative methods, and doctrines are based).

Getsé Teaches the Secret Nucleus Getsé's entré into the world of  Kama scholasticism came early at the age of  fifteen in 1774 when Zhingkyong gave him the reading transmission for a recent commentary on the Secret Nucleus from the Mindrölling tradition: Rabjam Orgyen Chödrak's General Exposition on Lochen Dharma ś ri's Ornament of the Lord of 

Secrets. Getsé reports that Zhingkyong prophetically told him, "Memorize it. In the future you will need to teach it to many assemblies." 374 The following year Zhichen

374

Ibid., 179.3; blor zung slad mang du/ tshogs la 'chad dgos gsung phebs . "Prophetic statements" ( lung  bstan) are a typical mode of foreshadowing in Tibetan autobiographies.

Kunzang Tenzin taught Getsé the content of the Ornament of the Lord of Secret's

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 Intention itself.375 This was the first time that he had been systematically introduced to the doctrines of the Kama, such as the essentially divine nature of phenomena, the ethics of  ritualized violence and sex, and the complex rituals systems accompanied by philosophical tantric reflections. Unfortunately Zhichen trülku died one year later in 1776, after which Getsé did not resume studying the Secret Nucleus for almost 20 years. Yet a far deeper education in the Secret Nucleus and the S ūtra Which Gathers

 All Intentions was necessary to be an effective proponent of the Kama. Therefore in 1793 Getsé devoted much time to improving his knowledge and experience of both, beginning with sequestering himself  awa y for a one hundred -day retreat on the

S ūtra.376 In the summer of  1793 Getsé traveled to Batang for more training in the exegetical tradition of  the Secret Nucleus. He studied at Kachö Tsera Monastery (mkha' spyod rtse ra dgon ) with a lama whom he doesn't name but refers to as the "scholar's scholar and excellent lama" ( mkhas dbang bla ma mchog).377 Tsera Monastery was founded in the twelfth century by the first Karmapa Düsum Khyenpa (1110-1193), and visited by several successive Karmapa lamas.

378

In the late -

seventeenth or early -eighteenth century the treasure revealer Chöjé Lingpa  – 

375

Ibid., 180.2

376

Ibid., 223.2. Perhaps this retreat was also a prerequisite to performing the initiation.

377

Ibid., 223.5. I have been unable to find this lama's name.

378

For more on this monastery see The Histories of the Monasteries of Kardzé Prefecture, vol. 2, 399-401.

Zhingkyong's father  – converted it to the Nyingma sect.

379

Years before Getsé's

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new albit unnamed teacher studied the Secret Nucleus under his maternal uncle, with Zhingkyong attending the teachings. Getsé's teacher took extensive notes during this class and Getsé mentions that he made it a point to never be physically separated from his notebook ( 'bral spang mdzad pa).380 Getsé studied with this master for one month and says that afterwards he memorized the "General Exposition" ( spyi don); likely Orgyen Chödrak's General Exposition on the Ornaments of the Lord of Secret's

 Intention that he memorized at Zhingkyong's behest many year's earlier.

381

This

session seems to mark the last of his training in the Kama. From this point on Getsé begins to transmit the initiations and tantric exegesis (rgyud bshad ) of the Kama. Later the same year Getsé was invited to give the Secret Nucleus initiation and tantric commentaryby a minister from the Gyelrong principality of  Tsako ( tsa ko). The two met when the minister was visiting Degé as part of the funeral services for his recently deceased queen. 382 Getsé remarks that because of  the minister's great desire to be initiated into the Secret Nucleus and learn its doctrines, he could not refuse the request and traveled to Gyelrong to comply with his wishes. Getsé's

Collected Works contain a prayer to the masters of the Secret Nucleus exegetical line that was likely commissioned by the same minister. The coloph on says Getsé 379

Ibid.

380

Getsé Mahā paṇḍita, Autobiography, 223.5.

381

Ibid., 223.7

382

Ibid., 224.4. The minister's name is given in the  Autobiography as byA g+hra , which looks like the  phonetics of a Sanskrit word but may be a rendering of a word in a Gyelrong language.

composed "this supplication to the lineage of  the exegetical tradition of  the

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glorious Secret Nucleus in response to a request made from afar by the minister of  the ruler of  Gyelmorong of  the East, who is imbued with the dharma eye and is my student, Gyurmé Ngödrup Rapten."383 At the beginning of the very next year, 1794, Getsé gave his first teachings on the Secret Nucleus to monks at Katok Monastery. "I offered the explanation of  the tantra to the assembly of  tantric monks." 384 “Tantric monks” ( rgyud grwa rnams) signifies monks enrolled in winter training sessions on tantric practice, ritual, and doctrine. This is the first time Getsé mentions this term in his Autobiography and it is not clear whether these sessions were instituted anew this year or they had been running for many years already. That spring Getsé took the reincarnations of  Zhingkyong and Chaktsa to Jangseng encampment ( byang seng sgar ) and gave them half of the explanation of the Secret Nucleus.385 Furthermore, without identifying him by name, Getsé says that one of the young trülkus began his own set of notes on the exegesis. The three of them returned to Katok for the annual Tenth Day festival, after which Getsé concluded his teaching to the young lamas. Soon after Getsé gave another course on the Secret Nucleus to the reincarnate lama of  Dzakha Monastery

383

Getsé Mahā paṇḍita, Supplication to the Lineage of the Secret Nucleus , 156; dpal ldan gsang ba snying  po'i bshad rgyun rim gsol 'debs shar rgyal mo rong gis skyong ba'i blon po chos mig ldan pa rang gi slob ma 'gyur med dngos grub rab brtan gyis rgyang ring po nas bskul ngor. No date is given in the colophon. 384

Getsé Mahā paṇḍita, Autobiography, 224.1; rgyud grwa rnams gyis [read kyi] tshogs su rgyud bshad  phul. 385

Ibid., 225.6

and a few other "vajra students" (rdo rje'i slob ma ).

386

This year Getsé's unnamed

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Secret Nucleus teacher in Batang died. When Getsé received news of his passing, he immediately went

to Tsera Monastery to conduct the funeral. Mentions of 

"explanations of the tantra" ( rgyud bshad ) drop off after this year, but continue until the end of the work. Getsé stopped writing his life story while in the middle of recording the year 1820 when he was 60 years old. His disciple the second Zhingkyong Trülku composed the account of his final years. 387 The second Zhingkyong's section is very illuminating because he describes things differently from Getsé, thereby providing new details and perspectives o n commonplace events in his life. He also discusses certain topics that Getsé omitted from his portion of  the  Autobiography, including episodes relating to Getsé's teaching of the Secret Nucleus. For instance Zhingkyong refers to a teaching session on the tantra held at Dralak Monastery in 1824 as a bshad 

grwa (lit., exegetical school), whereas Getsé always called them simply “(periods for) explanation of  the tantra" ( rgyud bshad). Zhingkyong's use of  bshad grwa contributes to our knowledge of  the history o f this term's usage. Later in the same century it would be used to mean a full time academy. 388 Here we can see that in the early nineteenth century the term meant short term, irregular study sessions.

386

Ibid., 225.7.; 'dzar ka is clealy an alternative spelling to dzaH ka, a Nyingma monastery close in Katok  in present-day Pelyül County. See the  Histories of the Monasteries in Kardzé Prefecture , vol. 3, 157-161. 387

The second Zhingkyong's full name was Jikmé Rindzin Gönpo ( 'jigs med rig 'dzin mgon po ; d.u.). See Jamyang Gyeltsen, A Brief History of Katok , 106. 388

Cf. Dreyfus, "Where Do Commentarial School's Come From?"

Another facet of  Getsé's revival of  the Kama is his comp osition of 

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commentaries on important rituals and tantras. A notable example is his treatise on the Secret Nucleus tantra, written in 1814. The text is called Set of Notes (To Be

Consulted When Giving) Explanations on the Overview of the Secret Nucleus .389 The colophon reads, in part,390 Previously I compiled some scriptural quotes and passages ( tshig

tshogs) from explanations that cover the general overview of  the Sri Secret Nucleus tantra, such as the Ornament of the Lord of Secret's  Intent  and Ranjampa Chödrak's  Notes (on the preceding), and for the sake of  easy comprehension wrote them out in a notebook ( zin tho). Later students such as nephew Penden Jikme, who clarifies of  the Teachings, requested me (to edit these notes) saying, "By all means we need somet hing that clarifies the contents of  the text, including the manner of explication that proceeds through each of the chapters of the tantra." Following the intent of  the Ornament of the Lord of Secret's

 Intent , I composed this by adhering to the principle of brevity, (only) adding a few indispensible (teachings).

389

The full title is dpal ldan gsang ba snying po'i spyi don gyi bshad pa'i zin bris bla ma'i man ngag don gsal snying po legs bshad rol mtsho. 390

Ibid., 397; dpal ldan gsang ba snying po'i rgyud kyi don ltar bshad pa dgongs rgyan dang rab 'byams pa chos grags kyi zin bris sogs las/ lung dang tshig tshogs cung zad bsdus te/ thugs su chud sla ba'i phyir zin thor sga mo zhig nas bris pa slar yang bstan pa'i gsal byed rje dbon dpal ldan 'jigs med sogs don gnyer  rnams kyis rgyud kyi le'u so sos ston tshhul sogs khongs snos pa'i gsal ba zhig cis kyang dgos zhes bskul  bas/ gsang bdag dgongs rgyan gyi dgongs pa ltar la med ka med chags kyis [illegible passage] kha bskang  ba las gzhan yi ge nyung ba kho na gtso bor byas te.

The account of the composition of this text in the  Autobiography confirms

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what is said in the colophon. Getsé composed the work after teaching the tantra to Nyingtrul ( snying sprul; a reincarnate lama associated with Katok), Getsé’s nephew Penden, and others. The Autobiography says, "In response to the requests of Penden I wrote a manual on the explanation of  the general exposition that proceeds by teaching each chapter of the tantra."391 The text reads like a lecture on the text and is interspersed with many interlinear annotations. Some of the annotations are didactic and tell the reader  – who might be a  junior teacher  – which elements of  general dharma preaching need to be interspersed at those points. Other annotations spell out the contents of lists named in the main body of the text. As stated earlier, Getsé seemed to be exclusively devoted to the Mindrölling school of  Kama exegesis and ritual. This text, his only major work on the Secret 

 Nucleus, is a prime example of this fidelity. The colophon is explicit that this work is a manual on teaching the Mindrölling interpretation of  the Secret Nucleus. The Mindrölling line and the Katok line both derive from the Zur School of  explication ( zur lugs), thus there would not have been any major contradictions between them. However it is curious that Getsé would hue so closely to the dominant tradition of his time and not represent himself as making an attempt to recall the accomplishments of  past Katok exegetes of the Secret  Nucleus.

391

Getsé Mahā paṇḍita, Autobiography, 296.2; dpal ldan gyi/ gsungs ngor rgyud kyi le'u so so nas ston tshul spyi don bshad sbyang de bris so.

Getsé's major treatment of  the Sūtra Initiation ( mdo dbang) is also a

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faithful rendition of the recent Mindrölling reworking of the initiation ritual. The text is called the  List of Actions to be Performed When Bestowing the Initiation of the

S ūtra of the Great Gathered  (dpal ldan 'dus pa chen po'i mdo yi chu bo bzhi rdzogs kyi dbang bskur ji ltar bya ba'i las tho de nyid la rab tu 'jug pa ). The S ūtra initiation is one of  the most complex in Tibet, so at thirteen folia in length t his work is particularly brief. Getsé gives a lucid account of  the virtues of  the Mindrölling tradition of  the S ūtra, saying that the Mindrölling brothers  – Terdak Lingpa and Lochen Dharmashri – revived the simplicity of the early tradition of Dropukpa.392 He says that after Dropukpa the initiation ritual became extremely complicated by the insertion of many auxiliary initiations within the main initiation. In his careful study of the Mindrölling innovations to the Sutra Initiation, Dalton shows how such complaints were partially directed at a particular Katok initiation manual for the Sūtra.393 Thus in his works Getsé does not just present the Mindrölling position, but also argues for its interpretive agendas even to the point of  implicitly embracing criticism of  Katok traditions. Later in the colophon Getsé even acknowledges that certain critics said it was redundant for him to compose a ritual manual as so many

392

Getsé Mahā paṇḍita, List of Actions to be Performed When Bestowing the Initiation of the S ūtra of the Great Gathered, 22.6. 393

Dalton, "The Uses of the  Dgongs Pa 'Dus Pa'i Mdo in the Development of the Rnying-Ma School of  Tibetan Buddhism," 154-156 and 182. The offending Katok liturgy was Stream of Honey (sbrang rtsi'i chu rgyun) by Moktön Dorjé Pelzangpo's ( rmog ston rdo rje dpal bzang po ; 15th cent.).

already existed.

394

Perhaps these people also meant that he should not try to make

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the earlier Katok tradition obsolete by writing liturgies representing another tradition altogether. We have seen that Getsé collaborated with the third Dzokchen Rinpoché to reestablish the practice and study of the Kama ma ṇḍalas and tantric commentaries at the Nyingma Monasteries in Degé through the wholesale importation of  the newly formulated Mindrölling writings on the Kama. The Mindrölling brothers formulated their S ūtra Initation for easy implementation at other monast eries395 and their commentarial tradition on the Secret Nucleus was already quite voluminous. Perhaps Getsé was intrigued by the promise of  unifying the major Nyingma communities through shared practice of  study of  this new and masterfully crafted and inetgrated set of Kama writings. Establishing the Mindrölling Kama at Katok allowed Getsé to accomplish two aims at once: allow Katok to tap into the unifying potential of  the popular Mindrölling Kama, and to systematically revive the Kama at Katok, whose earlier loss had caused anxiety among some Katok lamas. This second point begs the question as to why Getsé did not revive Katok's older rituals and commentaries on the Kama, either instead of the Mindrölling school or along side it? Getsé's writings 394

Getsé Mahā paṇḍita, List of Actions to be Performed When Bestowing the Initiation of the S ūtra of the Great Gathered, 24.2. 395

Dalton, "The Uses of the  Dgongs Pa 'Dus Pa'i Mdo in the Development of the Rnying-Ma School of  Tibetan Buddhism," 224; "The primary purpose of the new Smin-grol-gling S ūtra empowerment was no longer to initiate a given disciple into the S ūtra' s teachings, but as a community building event. The ceremony was now a performance foremost, and in this sense, its emphasis had shifted from the  participants to the observers." This aim was accomplished through the formulation of a Sūtra Initiation ceremony that was both magnificent and brief.

are silent on the matter. In my readings of Getsé's entire  Autobiography and most

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of his relevant liturgies and tantric commentaries, he never seems to utter a word about the revival of  the Katok writings. Neither does he address whether their lineages have been los t or remained active to some degree. Rather his approach seems to be to universalize the Kama so that the presence of  the Kama is more important than any one tradition, and in the process minimizes the importance of the Katok Kama per se. Codification of Longsel's Treasures

If Getsé did not revive the special Katok tradition of the Kama, then what did he try to construct as the monastery's distinctive religious heritage? The answer is Longsel Nyingpo's treasures. Getsé reworked Longsel's treasures into a substantial repertoire of  rituals and contemplative manuals that he placed in a dominant role in Katok's religious program. The preceding section stressed that although Getsé made a very deliberate effort to import the Kama teachings from Mindrölling, he never denigrated or abandoned the treasures in the process. Being a reincarnation of  a student of Longsel Nyingpo, Getsé was raised by exponents of the treasure traditions of Dündül Dorjé and Longsel, and began his training in their rituals and contemplative exercises when he was  just a child. In fact throughout his life Getsé never stopped teaching these treasures or performing their rituals at important occasions. In fact, Getsé did not simply continue to practice the Longsel treasures out of habit but instead actively codified them through the composition of many liturgies

and practice manuals for use at Katok and its branch monasteries. We will

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analyze Getsé's editorial interventions into Longsel's treasures, seeing how he reformulated selected treasures t o conform to the liturgical and scholastic conventions of  large monasteries. I will then examine the ways in which Getsé instituted these treasures as key components of Katok's program of collective rituals and contemplative training. Longsel's treasures – as we have them in the current xylographic edition from the early twentieth century – contain the standard range of ritual and narrative genres found in the better-known treasure cycles. Longsel's Fierce Guru Blazing Gnosis (gu

ru drag po ye shes 'bar ba) cycle, for instance, contains many short works covering a multiplicity of ritual forms.396 A yogi with the Fierce Guru Blazing Gnosis volume of  treasures would not be wanting for texts upon which to meditate, use in propitiation of dharma protectors or the deployal of thread cross effigies, and to consult for other standard ritual functions. Nevertheless Longsel's treasures were not necessarily written to be ready for performance by relatively large monastic assemblies and Katok Monastery has a long tradition of creating complex rituals. Therefore if Getsé wanted to perform the Longsel Treasures at large festivals and rituals at Katok and at the Dege court, then new ritual expressions of  the treasures would need to be composed. Treasure traditions are dynamic and periodically require the composition of  new liturgies and guidebooks (khrid yig) that bring the orientation and legitimitzation 396

This cycle even contains a seventeen-folio work of instruction for the Degé king Sangyé Tenpa.

of a contemporary lama to the tradition, and thereby update the treasures for new

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times and places. For instance, we saw i n a previous chapter that Tsewang Norbu assented to a request by the nephew of  his guru Dechen Pema Lingpa to compose liturgies for the latter's treasures. Tsewang Norbu also penned a very important guidebook on the Gathering of All Precious Jewels by Jats ön Nyingpo called the

Ornament of the Guru’s Intention (dkon mchog spyi 'dus kyi khrid yig gu ru'i dgongs rgyan). Jamgon Kongtrul, in turn, composed two commentaries on Tsewang Norbu's liturgies.397 In many ways liturgies written after the treasure revealer 's death are the primary medium through which old treasures are conveyed to new audiences. Cuevas' study of  the history of  the Tibetan Book of the Dead offers a rigorous case study of  just this process.398 This famous manual for deathbed and funerary recitation is the product of  additions and reformulations made over many centuries. The compilation we have possess and associate with Karma Lingpa gained its current level of sophistication and popularity through the hard work of lamas that toiled long after the death of the original treasure revealer. Likewise, Getsé played a crucial role in updating and popularizing Longsel Nyingpo's treasures. If Getsé's colophons are to be believed, during his time there was a need for more substantial liturgies for Longsel's treasures than those provided by Longsel himself  or written by his successors. Getsé accomplished the codification of Longsel’s treasures by fitting core 397

These are found in Gyurmé Tenpa Namgyel , Thirteen Instructions of the Katok Oral Tradition, vol. 9.

398

Cuevas, Hidden History of the Tibetan Book of the Dead.

elements of Longsel's treasures into liturgical formats that resembled mainstream

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liturgies for recitation in large assemblies. Getsé also supplemented these writings with material from other treasures cycles, including the venerable Gathering of the

Guru's Intention. Thus Getsé not only changed Katok by codifying the role of  Longsel Nyingpo's treasures w ithin its overall program, he also transformed the treasures in the process. The earliest dated Longsel liturgy of  Getsé's belongs to the Fierce Guru Blazing Gnosis cycle. The text is a sādhana framework ( sgrub khog) and is entitled

S ādhana Framework for the Fierce Guru Blazing Gnosis, The Prince of Wish Fulfillment who Causes the Two Siddhis to Rain Down (bla ma drag po ye shes rab 'bar gyi sgrub khog yid bzhin dbang rgyal grub gnyis char 'bebs ) and was composed in 1811. The  Autobiography contains colorful details about the early reception of this work. Getsé writes,399 Because Lozang Tsultrim had died, Gyurmé Kelzang came to make a donation towards the transference of  merit (to him). We talked about many things. He supplicated me with a request to (compose) a sādhana framework liturgy for the Fierce Guru accomplishment festival. I saw an omen in a dream in which the supreme refuge lama gave me a small

399

Getsé Mahā paṇḍita, Autobiography, 298.4; blo bzang tshul khrims 'das pas bsngo yon tu/ 'gyur skal  phebs shing gang ci'i gsung 'phros byung/ khong gis bskul bas gur drag sgrub chen gyi/ khog dbub sgrig chog gnang gsol gtab pas/ man lam skyabs mchog bla mas yig chung zhig/ gnang bas 'di bzhin yin zhes gnang thob ltas/ byung bas sgrub chen chog khrigs byas mod kyang/ skul pa po yi nyams bzhes gzhan dbang song/ rang dgon gzhan la'ang tshugs thub re byas kyang/ rang lugs mi mkhyen gal chung lta bur  mdzad. Getsé also composed a gu ru drag po'i brgyud bskang (found in vol. 5, 347-352 of his Collected Works).

text and said, "(write it) like this one." Although I did compose the

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liturgical arrangement for the accomplishment festival, the requester's personal practices fell under the sway of others. Even though I tried to establish (the liturgy) at my monastery and others, people appeared to not understand our own tradition or did not value it.400 The colophon of the S ādhana Framework for the Fierce Guru Blazing Gnosis does not conceal the composite nature of  this work. It states, "(Getsé) combined the sādhana framework of  the treasure texts themselves and the design ( dgongs pa) of  the arrangement of  the ritual activities composed by the precious treasure revealer and (inserted certain) indispensible addenda lifted from other authentic (sources)…"401 Getsé compiled passages from the original treasures and Longsel's own compositions, and supplemented them with selections f rom the authoritative writings of others. The result is a very orderly liturgy with a dense internal structure, as befits the "framework" (khog dbub) genre.402 The next major Longsel liturgy in Getsé's Collected Works is even longer and more complicated. Th is is the 1822 Liturgical Arrangement of  the Three Bodies 400

Later in the chapter we will see that a few years after this Getsé did indeed institute the practice of the

 Fierce Guru accomplishment festivals at Katok and its branch monasteries. In the above passage Getsé is

simply expressing frustration that his flock did not share his enthusiasm for this work when it was first written. 401

Getsé Mahā paṇḍita, Sādhana Framework for the Fierce Guru Blazing Gnosis, 135.1; gter gzhung sgrub khog dang gter ston rin po ches mdzad pa'i las khrigs kyi dgongs pa bsdebs nas kha skong med ka med cung zad tshad ldan gzhan nas kyang blangs te… 402

At its topmost level there are three sections: the aim to be accomplished, the method for accomplishing that aim, and the fruit of accomplishing it ( gang bsgrub bya'i yul, ji ltar sgrub pa'i thabs, grub pa 'bras bu ). The middle section is in turn subdivided into instructions on the preliminary, main, and concluding rituals ( sngon ‘gro, dngos gzhi, rjes kyi sdom ).

Sādhana of  the Indestructible Essence of  the Luminous Expanse (klong gsal rdo

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rje snying po'i sku gsum sgrub thabs chog khrigs). The colophon indicates that it too is a composite of different treasure texts by Longsel and the writings and treasures of  other lamas. When Getsé and his monks were gathered at his Bango retreat center to perform the rituals of this treasure, a reworked liturgy was necessary. The colophon says, "Because the adamantine words of  the treasure text are especially brief  they were taken as the root life force (of  this liturgy, on the basis of  which I) lifted necessary liturgical addenda from the Gathering of  the Guru's Intention's Accomplishment of the Enlightened Mind of the Three Roots (rtsa gsum thugs sgrub gsal byed thugs kyi nor bu) and the Stages of  Accomplishing Long Life for One's Own Benefit (rang don tshe sgrub kyi rim pa), the Individual Accomplishment (sgos sgrub) from Gathering of the Entire Intention, the Five Garlands of Skulls (dgongs pa yongs 'dus thod phreng sde lnga) in Dündül's treasures, and others, and formulated (these pericope) as a liturgical arrangement." 403 Getsé wrote other such liturgies, including an empowerment ritual for the Gathering of  All Sugatas of  the Eight Pronouncements, another of the Longsel treasures that Getsé promoted at Katok and its branch monasteries.404

403

Ibid., gter gzhung rdo rje'i tshig ha cang bsdus pas rtsa ba'i srod tu bzung/ cho ga'i kha bskang dgos rigs  bla ma dgongs 'dus pa'i rtsa gsum thugs sgrub gsal byed thugs kyi nor bu dang rang don tshe sgrub kyi ri mo/ bdud 'dul gter byon dgongs pa yongs 'dus thod phreng sde lnga'i sgod sgrub sogs nas blangs te chog khrigs su spel ba... 404

The full title is bka' brgyad yongs 'dus kyi dkyil 'khor du bdag nyid 'jug pa'i cho ga snying po dril ba, and it is found in the Collected Works, vol. 5, 189-198.

Getsé also composed a major guidebook on the practice of  Dzokchen as

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taught in the  Indestructible Essence of the Luminous Expanse ( Longsel Dorjé 

 Nyingpo; klong gsal rdo rje snying po). The work is long, 211 folia in length, and the colophon notes it was composed at Katok. In the colophon Getsé recounts that Zhingkyong accepted the task of  composing "an extensive treatise that encapsulates all of the salient points of the Vajrayāna" ( rdo rje theg pa'i lam gyi gnad 'gag thams

cad dril ba'i legs bshad rgyas pa zhig ).405 He did not complete the guidebook, however, and subsequently Getsé brought it to completion in response to the wishes of some students, showing fidelity to the outline established by its original author. For some reason this work was not included in Getsé's Collected Works but instead circulated separately. It was published in India in a volume containing only the root treasures of  this cycle and Getsé's commentary, suggesting that perhaps in Tibet it circulated in a solitary volume devoted to secret Dzokchen teachings. The text was to some degree influential because the third Getsé incarnation wrote another two volumes on the  Indestructible Essence of the Luminous Expanse.406 As with the liturgies, this work is a domestication of  Longsel's treasures. Getsé took Longsel's treasures and codified them in the form of a learned and highly structured guidebook. Further research is required t o determine how Longsel Nyingpo's Dzokchen teachings were transformed in the process. Regardless, the important point here is that Getsé took a more or less unsystematic corpus of  Dzokchen treasures and 405

Getsé Mahā paṇḍita, Guidebook to the Indestructible Essence of the Luminous Expanse, 475.5.

406

These two works take up volumes 12 and 13 of Getsé Gyurmé Tenpa Namgyel, Thirteen Instructions of 

the Katok Aural Tradition.

reworked them into a treatise written for a turn -of-the-nineteenth century

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monastic audience. In this way Katok gained a new Dzokchen tradition that was both rooted in the revelations of  the monastery's own treasure revealer and codified by a scholar who was familiar with the state of  the art in Dzokchen treatises, especially the Longchen Nyingtik. Establishing Getsé's Treasure Liturgies in the Liturgical Calendar

Now we turn our analysis to how these works were institutionalized at Katok and its branch monasteries. First we will explore a monastic customary written by Getsé that shows how he placed Longsel's treasures - expecially the ones for which he wrote liturgies - at the center of  the Katok liturgical and contemplative program. Then we will examine the numerous times that Getsé represents himself  in his

 Autobiography employing Longsel's treasures as the chief  liturgies for high-profile but one-off rituals at Katok and Degé. Getsé wrote several monastic customaries that provide details on the liturgical and contemplative programs of Katok. These consistently indicate that Getsé did not intend to displace Longsel Nyingpo's treasures but rather to reshape them to be more amenable to collective practice and ritual, while looking to the resurgent Kama as the heart of  its seminary study. One such monastic customary was written for Gyelsé Monastery ( rgyal sras dgon), in present-day Jomda County, in the T.A.R. 407 Getsé visited this monastery in 1817 during a long stay in the Gonjo area. His 407

Getsé Mahā paṇḍita, Monastic Customary of Gyelsé Monastery (rgyal sras dgon kyi bca' yig).

 Autobiography reports arriving at Gyelsé and being given a grand welcome and

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then presiding over a seven-day assembly. 408 Getsé then traveled around the area for sometime, returning to Gyelsé two more times before returning to Katok. On his final stay at Gyelsé Getsé reports filling statues ( rten gzhug) with thirty yak-loads worth o f materials. 409 Given the mention of  consecration and large -scale statue construction it appears that the monastery was going through a period of expansion –  an excellent time for the composition of a new monastic customary. The  Autobiography does not menti on the composition of  this monastic customary but its colophon is detailed. "On a virtuous date during the sixth month of  the fire ox year [1817], (also) called Wangchuk, Gyurmé Tsewang Chokdrup of  Glorious Katok arranged this work through prioritizing the stages of  the four (assembly) sessions in emulation of the customs of victorious Katok, thereby refining the older monastic customary (by) harmonizing it with the contemporary situation."410 Unfortunately we do not have Katok's own monastic customary from this time period but as it states here, the liturgical program covered in this work is modeled on Katok's. A customary from a branch temple is especially valuable because it gives a clear indication of  how the Katok tradition was devised for implementation at its satellites. What is evident in this customary is that the liturgical

408

Ibid., 306.7.

409

Ibid.,

410

Ibid.; rgyal ba kaH thog pa'o phyag srol ltar gyi thun bzhi'i rim pa gtso bor byas te bca' yig sngon ma la 'phri bsnan yul dus gnas skabs dang bstun nas bgyis pa 'di nyid dpal kaH thog pa 'gyur med tshe dbang mchog grub kyis dbang phyug ces me glang lo'i chu stod can gyi gral chos dge bar bkod pa.

calendar and contemplative practices are dominated by Longsel Nyingpo's

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treasures. Below we will go through the regulations and ritual curriculum of  the monastery as detailed in the customary. If this document is to be believed, nearly every one of  the monastery's communal rituals was based on Longsel Nyingpo's treasures. Even the important Dzokchen retreat is based entirely on Longsel's Dzokchen treasures, the

 Indestructible Essence of the Luminous Expanse. At the end of  the year, during the twelfth month, the monastery performed the "gütor" (torma; dgu gtor ) ritual in which a large offering cake (gtor ma) is sacrificed on the twenty-ninth. The liturgy used for this is derived from Longsel Nyingpo's Fierce Guru cycle.411 For five days at the end of the third month the monks performed the repelling torma ( gtor bzlog) ritual of  Longsel's Gathering of All the Sugatas of the Eight Pronouncements . The fourth month always included a busy wee klong series of  rituals based on Longsel's Avalokiteśvara cycle, the Unexcelled Super-Secret Form of Great Compassionate

One (thugs rje chen po yang gsang bla med ). During the fifth month the monks at Gyelsé Monastery would perform their annual Tenth Day festival. To this day many branch monasteries of Katok celebrate the Tenth Day not on the monkey month – the sixth month  – but the month before in order that they will be able to attend the festivities at their mother monastery on the actual holiday. The liturgy followed for the Tenth Day is the  Ritual of the Three Bodies of the Peaceful and Wrathful . In this

411

Getsé Mahā paṇḍita, Autobiography, 234.4

monastic customary Getsé does not mention the performance of  a single annual

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group ritual that is not centered on the Longsel treasures. Of course this document is normative and does not necessarily reflect exactly what was being done on the ground, but it is illustrative of  Getsé's agenda to install Longsel's treasures at the front and center of  Katok's ritual program. At this point it can be mentioned that one treasure of Longsel's did not attract the attention of Getsé: Longsel's Secret Nucleus-themed treasures highlighted in Chapter One. Perhaps Getsé wanted the Kama to have a monopoly on Secret Nucleus practice and study at Katok. The founders of  Mi ndrölling Monastery intended their formulation of  the Kama to be a common tradition shared by all the major Nyingma monasteries. Getsé accepted this proposition and instituted the Mindrölling Kama at Katok. While the Mindrölling imports eclipsed the earlier and distinctive Katok treatises and liturgies on the Kama, under Getsé the Longsel treasures consolidated their position as the main uniquely Katok component of  the monastery's programs. Prior to Longsel, the Kama was Katok's special heritage and the tre asures they practiced all had their origins outside of  Katok. Longsel Nyingpo became a leader at Katok late in his life and his relatives and students kept his treasures active at Katok, but it was Getsé who rendered him into the Katok treasure revealer. Public performances of Longsel's treasures

Getsé further institutionalized Dündül and Longsel's treasures at Katok and its branch monasteries through the performance of  the treasures at important ritual

events. Getsé's  Autobiography, for one, mentions several times in which Getsé

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performed consecrations using only a Longsel treasure for the liturgy, or specifies that a Longsel liturgy was the chief liturgy used. In his  Autobiography, Getsé rarely mentions specific liturgies used for rituals, the one exceptio n being important gatherings like the consecration of  large new icons. Here in this subsection I will document some of  these instances as part of  this study's claim that Getsé promoted Longsel's treasures as vigorously as he did the Kama. A representative example of  Getsé's use of  Longsel's treasures at a high profile ritual when he was meant to represent Katok monastery is his use of  a Longsel treasure in the consecration of a new temple at the Degé capital. The passage in the Autobiography reads,412 As ord ered by the Degé family, in the spring of  the wood pig year [1815] I went (to the capital) to insert the dhāra ṇīfilling inside (new statues of  the) Three Long-life Gods. I stayed in the new temple and everyday Degé family members would visit and, together with the monks of  the monastic college, I conferred the extensive and middlelength initiations for the attainment of  mind several times. I also offered the Degé family guidance ( go khrid ) through the Charioteer of 

412

Getsé Mahā paṇḍita, Autobiography, 207.2, shing phag dpyid kar sde dge'i bka' bzhin du/ tshe lha rnam gsum gzungs gzhug 'bul bar song/ lha khang gsar par bsdad nas nyin ltar bzhin/ sde dge byon zhing grwa tshang dang bcas par/ thugs sgrub dbang bskur rgyas 'bring lan 'ga' byas/ sde dger bden gnyis shing rta'i go khrid phul/ bdu mdzad gur drag rol dpon la sogs par/ khrid btab gzungs gzhug thun mong thun min gyi/ man ngag klong gsal gter byon dgongs pa bzhin/ lag len bstar… zla gcig tsam nas gzungs rnams phul grub  bar/ mkhan chen drung nas rab gnas dngos sta mdzad/ bdag gis tshe sgrub yang gsang bla med la/ brten pa'i rab gnas dngos sta nyin gsum.

223 the Two Truths (the auto-commentary on Jikmé Lingpa's Treasury

of Positive Qualites ; bden gnyis shing rta). I gave instructions about the Fierce Guru to the chant leader and instructions to the master of music and others. I did this in accordance with the oral instructions on ordinary and extraordinary dhāra ṇīfilling as found in Longsel's treasures… We finished filling (the statues) with dhāraṇī s after about a month. The great abbot performed the preparatory rites and actual ritual for (his stage of) the consecration. In reliance on (Longsel's)

Utterly Secret and Unsurpassed Accomplishment of Long Life I (also) performed the preparatory rites and actual ritual (of  my stage of) the consecration, taking three days. Getsé was trained in the rituals of many treasure cycles, including those of older and well-established treasure revealers. Yet for this important occasion in which he served out his duties as a court chaplain by ritually filling new statues with consecrated substances with the goal of  ensuring the longevity of  members of  the royal family, Getsé highlights the chief  role of  Longsel Nyingpo's treasures in the execution of these ritual duties. Another performance of  a Longsel liturgy at a major event occurred three years later in 1818. That year Getsé consecrated at Katok a large three -story tall statue of Amitāyus, the Buddha of long-life. Construction on the statue began in 1814 and Getsé says, "(In the spring of  that year) I convened a workshop ( bzo grwa) to

224 construct a three-story image of  Amitayus. I gave the artisans thog ston spa dar  (?). The chant leader and I conferred about the measurements." 413 Construction of  this large statue was completed three years later in 1817. Getsé's life story recounts in great detail the valuable materials used to create and decorate the statue, and the holy substances used to fill the statue. It appears from the narrative that Chinese craftspeople were also involved in the creation of the statue. The consecration was a grand affair and the Longsel liturgies used during the ceremony are given pride of  place in the account of  the event. The  Autobiography reads,414 Five ma ṇḍalas of  the Kama and Terma were unveiled, chief among them the Utterly Secret and Unsurpassed Accomplishment of Long Life . Two days were devoted to the two segments of  each (ma ṇḍala's) consecration rites, i.e., the preparatory rites and the actual ritual, totaling ten days. I sat at the head (of the assembly) and I banished the hindrances and cleansed the "trum" ( bkruM sbyong) in the pledge beings, after which the assemblies of  the wisdom being gods entered and dissolved. I (offered) a benediction that the indivisibility of  the

413

Ibid., 295.3; dpyid der tshe 'od dpag med kyi/ snang brnyan thog tshad gsum pa'i bzi grwa bsdus/ bzo bo rnams la thog ston spa dar byin/ bdag dang dbu mdzad gnyis kyis thig tshad bgros. 414

Ibid., 311.4; tshe sgub yang gsang bla med thog brangs pa'i/ bka' gter dkyil 'khor lnga yi zhal phyes nas/ rang gnas dngos sta sbrags ma nyin gnyis re/ bcu phrag bzhag la bdag nyid dbur bsdad nas/ dam tshig sems  par bgegs bskrad bkruM sbyong sogs/ byas mthar ye shes sems dpa'i lha tshogs rnams/ bzhug bstims dam ye dbyer med ji srid bar/ brtan par bzhugs pa'i shis brjod me tog 'thor.

pledge and wisdom (be ings) remain stable for as long as (the

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statue) abides, and distributed flowers." The following year Getsé completed another large statue at Katok and consecrated it with a Longsel liturgy. This was a two-story statue of Avalokitesvara that was sponsored by the second Chaktsa Rinpoché but left incomplete upon his early death in 1816. The body of  the statue was finished but Getsé took over the project, guilding it and filling it with dharanis. Getsé says, "It was flawlessly built,  just like the Amitayus." 415 Nevertheless, its consecration ceremony was scaled back slightly from that of  the Amitayus statue. "The consecration was performed with three maṇḍalas of the Kama and Terma, chief among them (Longsel's) Utterly Secret 

and Unsurpassed Great Compassionate One . With two days for each (ma ṇḍala's consecration, including both) the preparatory rites and actual ritual, the ceremony for the (statue) to remain steadfast was offered…"416 I hope it is clear by now that later in his life, and closer to the time when Getsé actually composed his  Autobiography, Getsé was consistent in emphasizing the primacy of  the Longsel treasures for the purpose of consecrations. In tandem with what we know about how he also made the Longsel treasures central to the liturgical calendar and retreat practices it is possible

415 416

Ibid., 314.1; tshe dpag med bzhin nor 'khrul med par grub.

Ibid., thugs rje chen po yang gsang bla med gtsos/ bka' gter dkyil 'khor gsum ldan rab gnas bgyis/ dngos sta nyin zhag gnyis res brtan bzhugs phul.

to say that Getsé codified the primacy of  Longsel in the Katok ritual and

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contemplative program.417 Katok Becomes a Regional Center of Learning

The final section of this chapter explores the educational infrastructure put in place by Getsé at Katok and offers case studies of individual students who trained at Katok during the height of  this period. It examines the study program instituted at Katok, comparing it with what we know of  its curriculum in earlier centuries and discerning the influence on it from prevailing trends in Degé and the Nyingma more broadly. Furthermore this section will document Katok's role among the community of Nyingma monasteries in Kham, showing it to be a preeminent center of learning. The Teachers Active at Katok at the Turn of the Nineteenth Century

In the early nineteenth century Katok had three generations of  Katok-based reincarnate lamas active at the monastery. Representing the senior generation was the first Chaktsa Rinpoche, Kunzang Ngedön Wangpo ( kun bzang nges don dbang

 po; d. 1816), an early teacher of Getsé's. He visited Getsé at his ancestral camp when he had first been recogni zed and in1772 enthroned him at Katok. Getsé received many teachings from him over the years. Getsé is the representative of  the middle generation of teachers and the young Zhingkyong and Moktsa incarnations represent

417

This begs the question about the role of the Kama in the ritual and contemplative life of Katok. As we have seen above most of these large consecrations involve Kama ma ṇḍalas, but they are never named. This speaks to the primacy accorded Longsel treasures in the new Katok liturgical program.

the third generation. In this section we will see that the autobiographical and

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biographical literature on lamas from other monasteries who trained at Katok in the early nineteenth century mention both Zhingkyong and Mokdrup quite prominently, especially the former. Mokdrup and Zhingkyong trained these outside lamas well and they became respected lamas in their own right into the middle of  the nineteenth century. Two other teachers active at Katok during the early to mid nineteenth century are also worth mentioning. Their names are Thukchok Dorjé ( thugs mchog rdo rje) and Tharbum ( thar 'bum). Their roles at Katok are mentioned towards the end of  Getsé's  Autobiography in a section authored by the second Zingkyong. This section makes it clear that the specialty of these two lamas was teaching the Secret Nucleus, in distinction to the trülkus who seem to have been better at giving initiations and reading transmissions. Zhingkyong writes,418 At the beginning of  the Earth Rat year (1828; Getsé) was supremely enthused. The tradition of giving explanatory teachings (bshad srol) on the commentaries of  the classics (such as) the Secret Nucleus of  the Kama of  the Old Translation school and the  Abhisamayālaṃk āra, (which contains) the core principles of  the Perfection of Wisdom,

418

Ibid., 343.3; sa byi gsar shar thugs bskyed rmad byung bas/ snga 'gyur bka' ma gsang ba snying po dang/ sher phyin dgongs don mngon rtogs rgyan gzhung 'grel/ bshad srol bla rabs bcu gsum yan chad du/ bzhugs kyang phyis 'dir gzhung don bklags tsam las/ 'grel bshad zhib smrar chos dbyings klong thim yang/ kun mkhyen bla ma rje yi bka' drin gyis/ thugs mchog rdo rjes grwa tshang bcu skor la/ bshad rgyun btsugs shing zla ngo gsum bzhi nas/ kho nyid rang yul btegs shul gnas lnga la/ mkhas shing dad ldan rgyud dul thar 'bum nyid/ yongs 'dzings [read 'dzin] la bskos rgyal bstan rin po cher/ bshad sgrub gnyis char grub 'di skal pa bzang/ zhes pa'i thugs dgyes zhal 'phros yang yang gnang.

persisted (at Katok) up through the thirteen generations of  lamas.

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Subsequently here at Katok, the meanings of  the texts were merely learned by rote ( bklags tsam), while detailed exegesis had disappeared into the ether ( chos dbyings klong thim ). Yet thanks to the kindness of  the omniscient lama (Getsé, this year) Thukchok Dorjé established (the study of) the exegetical tradition for a group of  about ten monks. When, after t hree or four months he departed for his home region, (Getsé) appointed Tharbum as tutor. He is expert in the five sciences, faithful, and disciplined. Getsé was very pleased and repeatedly said "(Thukchok Dorjé and Tharbum's) fulfillment of both the exegesis and practice of the precious Teachings is fantastic! This excerpt from Zhingkyong is informative for providing the reader with a figure on the number of monks in the classes, which was only ten ( grwa tshang bcu

skor ). Apart from this the only other mention of  numbers of  monks involved with Katok occurs when Getsé mentions that fifty monks were assigned to learn Kama rituals under the visiting teachers from Mindrölling. This helps us get sense of  the monastery’s populaton at the time, which apparently was low by the standard of  today's seminaries (bshad grwa). The recent  Brief History of Katok by the late abbot Jamyang Gyeltsen is obviously alluding to this passage when it mentions that Getsé appointed Tharbum

and Thukchok Dorjé as abbots ( mkhan po) at Kat ok.

419

Fortunately this work

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gives other identifying information about these lamas beyond simply their names. It refers to Tharbum as the Dzokchen Gemang Wönpo Tharbum ( rdzogs chen dge

mang dbon po thar 'bum)420 and identifies him as the nephew of the founding lama of  Dzokchen Gemang monastery and the paternal uncle of  the Dzokchen Monastery's seminary's second abbot Gyelsé Zhenpen Thayé (rgyal sras gzhan phan mtha' yas ; b. 1800).421 Jamyang Gyeltsen even says he was a more learned grammarian than Getsé himself!422 The other teacher mentioned in the preceding excerpt is Thukchok Dorjé, a reincarnate lama from Gyiling Monastery in Golok.423Later in this section we will see that in 1816 he traveled with Dokhyentsé to Katok to study under Getsé. Dokhyentsé stayed over a year at Katok and perhaps Thukchok Dorjé was able to  join Dokhyentsé during all of his private courses with Getsé. Regardless he was one of Getsé's most capable and trusted students. Tukchok Dorjé wrote the closing benedictory verses and printer’s colophon of  the second xylographic edition of  the

Stages of the Path of Secret Mantra (gsang sngags lam rim) – originally composed in

419

Jamyang Gyeltsen, Brief History of Katok , 109.

420

Jamyang Gyeltsen, Brief History of Katok, 109 and 111; dge mang rgyal sras gzhan phan mtha' yas kyi khu bo dge mang thar 'bum. 421

For a brief history of Gemang Monastery see the  Histories of the Monasteries in Kardzé Prefecture , vol. 2, 237-245. 422 423

Jamyang Gyeltsen, Brief History of Katok , 111; sgra pa rang las mkhas pa.

Cf. Ibid., 111, where he is called 'gu log gyi ling thugs mchog rdo rje . In  Dokhyentsé 's  Autobiography he is called a "supreme incarnation" ( mchog sprul ), in other words a revered reincarnate lama. I suspect that Gyiling Monastery in "Golok" is actually Kilung Monastery ( kiH lung dgon ), which is very close to Gemang Monastery; See  Histories of the Monasteries in Kardzé Prefecture , vol. 2, 245-253.

1805 and printed for the first time in 1824  – which was printed sometime after

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Getsé's death.424 Thus we see that Getsé had trained several trülkus who were capable at transmitting ritual and meditation instructions, if  not the high -level doctrinal teachings, and attracted lamas from outside of  Katok who became brilliant teachers and maintained the seminary at Katok during Getsé's later years and after his death. Trülkus from Other Monasteries Train at Katok

One of  Getsé's most renowned students was Dokhyentsé Yeshé Dorjé ( mdo

mkhyen brtse ye shes rdo rje; 1800-1859), who Dodrupchen recognized as the reincarnation of  Jikmé Lingpa (d. 1798). Dokhyentsé was born in Golok, not far from Getsé's home region, and went on to be one of  the most charismatic lamas in mid-nineteenth century eastern Tibet.

425

He is best known for his ascetic and

peripatetic lifestyle and achieving the rainbow body (‘ja' lus) upon his death. Getsé only spent two days with Dokhyentsé's predecessor Jikmé Lingpa but still considered him one of his primary gurus. Getsé then corresponded with Jikmé Lingpa and went on to edit Jikmé Lingpa's Collected Works and the Nyingma Gyübum, which was based mainly on an arrangement made by Jikmé Lingpa. Getsé maintained his connections to Jikmé Lingpa's treasures through the latter's chief student Dodrupchen Jikmé Trinlé Özer ( 'jigs med phrin las 'od zer ; 1745-1821).426 Dodrupchen came to 424

Two different blockprint editions are still extant, each with its own printer's colophon. The 1972 edition is older and was printed during Getsé's life; see bibliography. 425

Kornman, "A Tribal History," is a translation from the opening passages of Dokyentsé's  Autobiography and discusses the orgins of the people of Golok. 426

Bio's in Dudjom and Thundup.

Degé in 1801, soon after his master's death. He immediately became very close

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with queen Tsewang Lhamo ( tshe dbang lha mo) and stayed around Degé for many years.427 Getsé and Dodrupchen collaborated on many projects for the court and traveled together on occasion. Thus when the teenage Dokhyentsé was ready to begin his higher Buddhist studies, his master Dodrupchen advised him to go study the Kama under Getsé and Zhingkyong. This attests to the close relationship between Getsé and Dodrupchen, but also to Getsé's preeminent position among the society of  Nyingma lamas in Kham at the time. In all Dokhyentsé studied at Katok for over one year and left a record of his time in his Autobiography. In the summer of  1816, the seventeen year -old Dokhyentsé traveled to Dodrupchen's see of Yarlung Pemakö in Golok. Dodrupchen told him, "At the end of  this year you must go to the indestructible seat of Katok and (receive) the initiations and instructions for several (traditions) and also study at the feet of  Getrül (i.e., Getsé) Mahāpa ṇḍita and the great lord of siddhas Zhingkyong Trülku. I need to stay here and complete (the temple construction) before I die." 428 Dokhyentsé heeded the command and made his way to Katok with a party of approximately ten relatives and lamas. The entourage included Getsé's close student Thukchok Dorjé. Further research is needed to determine the relationship between Dodrupchen, Dokhyentsé, 427

Getsé Mahā paṇḍita,  Autobiography, 249.4. Queen Tsewang Lhamo was the wife of the late king Sawang Zangpo, who died in 1790. She was a fervent patron Getsé and Dodrupchen and sponsored several high-profile and expensive projects involving Nyingma texts and deities; Cf. Kolma š,  A Genealogy of the  Kings of Derge, 42. 428

Dokhyentsé, Autobiography (mdo mkhyen brtse ye shes rdo rje’i rnam thar), 114; khyad rang yang lo ‘di’i mjug tu kaH thog rdo rje gdan gyi/ dge sprul ma hA paN+Di ta chen po dang/ grub pa’i dbang phyug chen po zhing skyong sprul pa’i sku’i drung du phyin nas/ dbang lung dang slob sbyong kha shas dgos pa rnams nga rang ma shi ‘dir mtha’ rdzogs dgos zhes bka’ gnang.

and Thukchok Dorjé. Before arriving at Katok they visited Degé and Dokhyentsé

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gave the initiations and reading transmissions for Jikmé Lingpa's chief treasure cycle the Longchen Nyingtik. Dokhyentsé says that he spent a little bit of  time in the capital and then traveled to Katok. Here I will translate in full his account of  his time spent at Katok,429 When I arri ved at Katok I met Zhingkyong Trülku Rinpoché and Moktsa. I then went to Bango Hermitage and met the refuge and protector Getsé Trülku Rinpoché. He lovingly looked after me and adamantly ordered that we act like family, like relatives who are newly acquainted. At that time Chaktsa Trülku Rinpoché (had recently) died and I was commanded (by Getsé) to sit at the head of the assembly for the offerings to the corpse, memorial services, and the consecration of  429

Ibid., 116; kaH thog tu slebs dus/ zhing skyong sprul pa’i sku rin po che dang/ rmog tsha bcas la mjal  phrad byung/ de nas sbra 'go ri khrod du phyin/ skyabs mgon dge sprul rin po che’i zhal mjal zhing/ thugs  brtse ba chen pos rjes su bzung nas/ ma ‘dris pa’i ‘dza’ bshes dang/ nang lugs kyi bka’ bkod dam por  gnang/ skabs der phyag tsha sprul sku rin po che’i dgongs pa chos dbyings su thim ‘dug pa gdung mchod dang dgongs rdzogs bum sgrub bcas kyi dbur ‘dug dgos kyi bka’ phebs byung ltar/ gang gsung ldog ma nus  pas bka’ bzhin sgrub dgos byung/ de nas re zhig dpon g.yog nyung shas tsam bsdad cing/ skyabs mgon ma hA paN+Di ta chen pos/ thog mar bsnyen pa’i kha bskang sogs mdzad nas/ tshogs chen 'dus pa'i 'dus pa mdo dbang chen mo sgo 'byed phyag rdor nas/ mtha' rten tshe dbang gi bar zhag bco lnga tsam du rgyas par  gnang/ rjes sgyu sprul zhi khro/ yang dag/ sangs rgyas mnyam sbyor/ dong sprugs/ rong phur sogs bka' ma'i dkyil 'khor che rim gyi dbang lung/ rgyud gsang ba snying po'i 'grel bshad zhib rgyas zla drug bar dbu ma dang grub mtha'i rnam dbye/ dkyil 'khor spyi'i rnam bzhag/ thig tshon dang blos slong gi zhal khrid bcas dang/ bka' brgyad rnam gsum dbang lung/ rgyud gsang ba snying po'i bka' 'grel mi 'dra ba bcu gcig lung/ dam pa bde gshegs kyi bka' 'bum thor bu'i skor/ rje nyid dang kun bzang nges don dbang po'i dka' 'bum skor tshang ma/ gzhan yang man ngag gi skor thor bu bcas smin grol du rjes su bzung/ bar skabs kaH thog dgon chen du phyin nas/ dge sprul rin po che'i bka' bkod ltar sgrub mchod rnams kyi phyag bzhes mthong  ba brgyud pa'i rnam bzhag sogs/ blo la nges par byas/ bsgrig lam la yang sa bcad mi stong tsam zhugs/ zhing skyong rin po che'i sku drung nas rig 'dzin bdud 'dul rdo rje'i chos skor dbang lung tshang ma/ rmog sprul rin po che'i drung nas klong gsal chos skor tshang ma/ gong ma'i dag snang phran bu'i skor bcas thob/ re zhig sdod rtsis yin yang/ sde dge lha ldan du byon dgos pa'i don gyis 'bod pa nan tan byung bar brten/ lo gcig lhag tsam las sdod rgyu ma byung bar/

the ritual vase. Unable to refuse what he said, I could only do as I

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was ordered. Then when only a few people from my entourage were staying with me, the protector and refuge, the great Mahāpa ṇḍita, (commenced my training,) first performing the amendment of  the ritual service ( bsnyen pa) and other rituals. Then over fifteen days he extensively performed the Great Gathered Assembly of the Great 

 Initiation of the S ūtra of the Gathered Intentions , beginning with Vajrapāni, up through the concluding long life empowerment. Subsequently he (continued to) care for

me with ripening and

liberating teachings. He gave me the initiations and reading transmissions for the high-level Kama ma ṇḍalas such as the Peaceful

and Wrathful Magical Net , Yangdak ,  Buddhasamā yoga, Churner of the  Depths of Hell, and the Rongzom's K īl  a; and a detailed and extensive exegesis on a Secret Nucleus commentary. For six months (he gave me teachings on) Mādhyamaka, the divisions of  tenet systems, a general presentation of  ma ṇḍalas together with oral instructions on lines and colors and visualizat ion ( blos slong); the initiations and reading transmissions of  the three traditions of  the Eight Pronouncements; the reading transmissions for eleven different commentaries on the Secret 

 Nucleus tantra; the reading transmissions for miscellany from the collected works of  Dampa Deshek, Getsé and Kunzang Ngedön Wangpo's complete collected works; and furthermore (the reading

transmissions for) miscellaneous esoteric precepts. During the

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recess ( bar skabs) I went to the large monastery of  Katok and, following G etsé Rinpoché's orders, I gained certainty in my mind about the presentations of the visual lineage of the liturgical rituals of  the festivals. I was not completely disengaged from the minutiae of the monastic regulations ( sgrigs lam la yang sa bcad mi stongs tsam

 zhugs).430 From Zhingkyong I received the complete set of  initiations and reading transmissions for Rindzin Dündül Dorjé's dharma cycles, and from Mokdrup Trülku Rinpoché, I received the complete dharma cycles of Longsel, together with minor pure visions of my predecessor. Although I had plans to stay for a while, because the Degé (king) had to go to Lhasa they insistently called me (to come to the capital). Therefore I didn't get to stay (at Katok) for more than one year and a half. Before analyzing this revealing firsthand account of  Dokhyentsé, it is important to pair it with Getsé's record of  the same series of  teachings. Getsé's account is much briefer but includes valuable details that round out the picture of  Dokhyentsé's training at Katok. Getsé's description of  the young lama's time at the Bango retreat is as follows, "He came up to Bango and for over three months received initiations and reading transmissions for the instructions on the

430

The Tibetan phrasing is ackward. Khenpo Ngawang Dorjé suggested the reading translated above.

235  Indestructible Essence (of the Luminous Expanse ) and the S ūtra, Magical Net , and

 Mind Series of the early translations, which he then studied." 431 At first glance there seems to be a contradiction between the dates but I read them as pertaining to different phases of  the teachings. Getsé's mention of  three months of instruction pertains to the initial period of  focus on the Kama ma ṇḍalas, to which Dokhyentsé does not give a length of  time. The six -month session detailed by Dokhyentsé is simply not recorded in Getsé's terse  Autobiography. Perhaps the recess spoken of by Dokhyentsé occurred between these these two sessions. This reading makes the most sense because Dokhyentsé says he spent over one year at Katok and it is safe to assume he spent the majority of  this time - nine months - in intensive studies with Getsé in Bango. A true discrepancy exists between these two accounts in terms of  Longsel Nyingpo's Dzokchen treasures. Getsé clearly says that he taught Dokhyentsé the

 Indestructible Essence of the Luminous Expanse and the Kama trio, not  just the Kama, as Dokhyentsé gives the impression. As we have seen throughout this chapter, Getsé's unique contribution to the Katok tradition was to pair the Longsel treasures with Kama and there is no reason to believe that he would not also have transmitted this to Dokhyentsé. Furthermore there is a precedent of  Getsé teaching the Longsel Dorjé Nyingpo to other lamas from not from Katok (see the account of  Zhechen Wöntrül below). Perhaps Dokhyentsé omitted this from his account because he

431

Getsé Mahā paṇḍita, Autobiography, 304.2; spra mgor slar phebs rdo rje snying po'i khrid/ snga 'gyur  mdo sgyus sems gsum gtso byas rnams/ zla gsum bar der dbang lung gsan sbyangs mdzad.

236 wished to give the impression that he was a strict follower of  the  Innermost 

Spirituality of the Great Expanse (Longchen Nyingtik; klong chen snying thig ). If we accept this periodization of Dodrupchen's teachings at Katok - that there was a three -month session followed by a six -month session , with a break in the middle - then a logic to the order becomes apparent. The first session encapsulates Getsé's reformulation of the Katok tradition: Longsel Nyingpo's Dzokchen teaching, the principal Kama ma ṇḍalas, and a teaching on the Secret Nucleus. The second session of teachings that Getsé gave Dokhyentsé represents a return to basics through systematic study of the exoteric vehicle and the transmission of many works needed for advanced study of  Nyingma doctrine. For instance, Getsé taught his teenage student Madhyamaka and the four tenet systems of  Indian Buddhism. Getsé wrote short texts on both of  these topics, which make clear his interpretations of  sūtra philosophy.432 The mention of  eleven different commentaries on the Secret Nucleus provides the reader with a sense of  the number of  different commentaries that were still circulating among scholars in the early nineteenth century. This excerpt also indicates that Dampa Deshek's Collected Works were by this time not transmitted as an integrated set, most likely because many of  his writings were lost. It should be pointed out that this is one of the very few occasions when Getsé gives teachings on a work composed by a Katok master from the pre-Longsel period. Note that Getsé did not choose to mention this transmission in his Autobiography. 432

Getsé was committed to the viewpoint of other-emptiness ( gzhan stong ) as formulated by the Jonang school. He integrates it into his Nyingma system by claiming that extrinsic emptiness is the same as the view of Dzokchen

After Dokhyentsé's productive stay at Katok he left the monastery and his

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new teachers for Degé and then Gyelrong. In his own words,433 I requested leave (from Getsé) at Bango and made it to the big monastery (Katok). The trülku's (e.g., Zhingkyong and Moktsa) gave me a not insignificant amount of parting gifts because of the love they had for me through our having mixed minds. The protector and refuge (Getsé) insisted tha t I make efficacious circumambulations around Kumbum Ringmo but only my sister did. Strong forces distracted me and I didn't carry it out. I dropped it thinking that it was an auspicious connection for me to (come back) and do it at a later date, and moved on. Another of  Getsé's students who trained for several years at Katok and became a prominent teacher in the nineteenth century was Zhechen Wöntrül Gyurmé Thutop Namgyel ( zhe chen dbon sprul ‘gyur med mthu stobs rnam rgyal; b. 1787) of  Zhechen Monastery. Zhechen Monastery is another one of  the new Nyingma monasteries in Degé.

434

Originally Zhechen was an appendage of  Dzokchen

Monastery, but then became an independent institution and is now considered one of  the six mother monasteries of  the Nyingma tradition. Zhechen has three major lines 433

Ibid., 161.6; sbra 'go nas dgongs pa zhus te/ dgon chen du slebs/ sprul sku rnams nas kyang thugs yid gcig 'dres kyi brtse gzigs mi dman pa'i skyel gtong sogs mdzad/ skyabs mgon bla mas sku 'bum ring mor   phyag bskor gnad smin zhig sgrub dgos gsung bka' nan yod kyang/ sring mo ma gtogs nga rang gzhan dbang shugs che bas thog khel ma byung bar rjes sor bsgrub pa'i brten 'grel du bzhag yar theg. 434

Cf. Histories of the Monasteries in Kardzé Prefecture, vol. 1, 535-543.

of reincarnate lamas: Ranjam ( rab ‘byams), Gyeltsap ( rgyal tshab), and Wöntrül.

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The Wöntrül line originated with a student of  the second Zhechen Rabjam Gyurmé Kunzang Namgyel (1713-1769), the author of the Seven Treasuries' Index featured in the Chapter Three. By far the most important Wöntrül incarnation was this student of  Getsé's. Getsé was his primary teacher of Nyingma doctrine and the literary arts and after Getsé's death he became a major teacher in Kham. There is no e xtant autobiography of  Zhechen Wöntrül, but a grand-student composed a very detailed life story of  him. 435 For many years it existed as a rare manuscript at Zhechen Monastery but in 2000 a new edition was published in India. It is a very rich source of information about Katok's lamas and educational program. Zhechen Wöntrül's

 Biography strongly suggests that Getsé was the

preeminent Nyingma scholar of  his generation. In a passage that recounts the year 1799 when Wöntrül was thirteen years old, Wöntrül's tutor died and the other two reincarnate lamas of Zhechen Monastery must find somewhere else for him to train. Katok was the obvious choice. "In the earth sheep year when Wöntrül was thirteen years old the treasurer and great scholar -practitioner Pema Dönden di ed. For the purposes of  (Wöntrül's) education in the arts and sciences there was no better place for him to receive training than Katok. Therefore the two reincarnated lamas (of  Zhechen) decided that he must go there.” 436 Wöntrül arrived at Katok in the summer 435

Dorjé Rapten (rdo rje rab brtan; 19th cent.), Biography of Zhechen Wöntrül (mkhas shing dngos grub  brnyes pa'i slob dpon 'jam dbyangs dgyes pa'i blo gros mtsho skyes bshad pa'i sgra dbyangs kyi rtogs brjod mdor bsdus skal bzang mgul rgyan). 436

Ibid., sa lug [1799] dgung lo bcu gsum bzhes tshe phyag mdzod mkhas grub chen po pad+ma don ldan sku gshegs song bas/_de phyin rig gnas bslab sbyang du kaH thog tu byon na ma gtogs sprul sku 'di sku

239 of the following year. He immediately went to Getsé's personal retreat Bango and began his studies. Zhechen Wöntrül stayed at Katok for three years, a considerable amount of time. Getsé's description of  what he taught Zhechen Wöntrül is characteristica lly brief. He says, "Zechen (e.g., Zhechen) Trülku came to (improve his) education and study the scriptures. I trained him beginning with the Kalā pa (grammatical system). I offered him what was appropriate to his intellectual and physical capabilities: poetry, prosody, initiations and instructions on channels, winds, and clear light, plus the reading transmissions for sections of the Longsel and Dündül (treasures)."437 in order to convey a full picture of the range of teachers active at Katok during this time and to give a sense of the Katok curriculum here I will give a translation of the complete account in the Biography of Zhechen Wöntrül of the topics he studied at Katok:438

yon legs par 'byong thabs shig dka' 'dug pas de ltar bya dgos zer sprul sku rnam gnyis bcas kyis thugs thag  bcad/ 437

Getsé Mahā paṇḍita, Autobiography, 244.7: ze chen dbon sprul sku yon dang/ chos bka’ gsan sar bdag rtsar phebs byung bar/ ka la pa yi dbu nas bslabs pa dang/ snyan ngag sdeb sbyor dbang khrid rtsa rlung dang/ ‘od gsal klong gsal bdud ‘dul chos tshan lung/ blo nus lus kyis gang lcogs ‘bul bar byas. 438

Dorjé Rapten, Biography of Wöntrül , p. 65.4: lcags sprel [1800] gnam lo gsar 'char gyi zla ba drug pa'i nang du/_tshe rabs du ma nas mthun pa'i grogs su me mar dang sdong bu lta bur gyur pa dge slong 'gyur  med chos rgyal grogs su khrid nas/_skyel ma dang bcas snga 'gyur bstan pa'i chu mgo gangs la thugs pa lta  bu mkhas dang grub pa'i 'byung gnas shar kaH thog rdo rje gdan du dam pa chos kyi phyir skom pa chu 'dod pa'i tshul gyis phyin nas/_zla ba de'i tshes nyer gcig nyin gza' skar dus sbyor phun sum tshogs pa 'dzoms par/_dpal rdo rje 'chang dang ngo bo rnam dbyer med pa bka' drin 'khor med mtshan brjod par dka'  ba/_gnas lnga rig pa'i paN+Di ta chen po 'gyur med tshe dbang mchog grub sbra mgo ri khrod du bzhugs  pa'i drung du mjal/_sangs rgyas thams cad kyi gsung rdo rje'i rang gzugs rdo rje rnon po dngos kyi dad pa thob/_zhe chen pa'i zhu rgya dang rdil tshad rta rmig ma bcas phul/_lugs gnyis kyi sgo nas rjes su bzung  ba'i dbugs dbyung bstsal/_skyel ma rnams rang yul du log_/zla ba bdun pa'i tshes gcig la dbu 'dzug gis/_sgra ka lA pa sa bzang 'grel chen gyi steng nas/_mtshams sbyor lnga/_nA drug_/A brgyad/_kr-ita drug  bcas kyi ri mo rnams bslab sbyang rgyugs 'bul bcas rang rkya thub pa sbyangs/_zla ba bcu gnyis pa'i tshes nyer bzhi'i nyin sgra tsan+d+ra pa'i ri mo'i dbu bzung nas/_kun mkhyen si tu chos kyi 'byung gnas kyi 'grel chen pod gsum dang /_'dod 'jo rtsa 'grel pod gnyis bcas pa dang /_gzhan yang dbyangs can sgra mdo dang /_pA Ni pa'i ri mo mthar chags dang /_sdeb sbyor rin chen 'byung gnas kyi steng nas sum 'bebs kyis dper   brjod pr-it+ta dzA ti'i rigs dbye tha dad pa phal cher dang /_ngo mtshar rtogs byed kyi cho ga bcas zhib la

240 They began on the first day of the seventh month. On the basis of  the Sazang's  Large Commentary on the Kalāpa system of  Sanskrit grammar he studied and was tested on the patterns ( ri mo) of  the five sandhi, six nā, eight ā, and six krita. He studied with self-sufficiency. On the twenty -fourth day of  the twelfth month, beginning with the patterns of the C āndrapa Sanskrit grammatical system, he (studied and then) gave a detailed and perfect exam on the three -volume great commentary by the omniscient Situ Chökyi Jungné together with the two volumes of  the root text (of  the  Amarakoś a) and its commentary the K āmadhenu; additionally, the S ārasvatavyākaraṇa, the complete series of  patterns in the Pā ṇinian system, on the basis of  the

Candroratnākara (he studied) the three forms of  prosody: prita,  jati, and the "expression of  marvelous realizations" (ngo mtshar rtogs

brjod ). Furthermore he also gave an exam on the composition (of  poetry based on his study) of  all three chapters of  the K āvyādar śa  . (When Getsé) was instructing him in this curriculum ( bslab sbyang de

rigs), (Wöntrül) did not feign incomprehension about what he actually understood. He trained such that he was able to give explanations and practice from off the top of his head or with a mere glance at the texts.

gtsang dag rgyugs phul ba dang /_slar yang snyan ngag le'u gsum ka'i rtsom rgyugs kyang phul te/_bslab sbyang de rigs khrid ni khrid la shes ni ma shes zer ba'i byas lo dang thos lo ma byas par thugs thog dang dpe cha la'ang gzigs pa tsam gyis bshad pa dang lag len thebs nges su sbyangs.

This ends the section on Wöntrül's robust training in the literary arts,

241

mastery of  which was highly prized in Degé. A large part of  the appeal of  Situ Penchen and Zhuchen to the Degé court was that they were masters of  the literary arts with skills of  translation and composition that could rivals those of  the great paṇḍitas of  the Tibetan renaissance and beyond. Getsé inherited this mantle and gained great prestige in Degé for his skill in grammar and editing, as witnessed by his work with the Degé Printing house. Expertise in the literary arts was a key component of socially valued learning and prestige in Degé and this was doubtelessly an important reason why Getsé taught Sanskrit grammar and poetics at Katok. Furthermore a substantial portion of  the texts he studied were editions newly translated in the previous century by Situ Penchen, making this passage useful for determining the reception history of  Situ's efforts to revitalize classical learning in Tibet.439 Immediately following the above excerpt is a long passage on Wöntrül's contemplative, ritual, and doctrinal training at Katok:440 439

As an aside, while Getsé was certainly an heir to Situ Penchen and Zhuchen's lines of instruction on the literary arts, he did not also study medicine, which they did. Furthermore it may be pointed out that the study of pramāṇa was not widespread in Degé during this time. 440

Dorjé Rapten, Biogarphy of Zhechen Wöntrül, 67.1; skyabs rje de nyid kyi mdun nas klong gsal skor   pod bcu gnyis dang /_bla ma dgongs 'dus kyi dbang lung tshang ma/_sgyu 'phrul zhi khro'i dbang dang /_rab 'byams pa o rgyan chos grags kyi yig cha'i steng nas rgyud kyi spyi don dang /_gsang bdag dgongs rgyan steng nas tshig don rnams smin khrid zab rgyas dang /_khyad par du klong gsal rdo rje snying po'i khrid sngon 'gro dang /_bskyed rdzogs kyi nyams khrid/_khyad par khregs chod dang thod rgal gyi khrid rnams thun mong ma yin pa'i lugs su bstsal nas/_rig pa rang ngo gcer mthong du sprod pas zab pa dang rgya che ba'i phyogs gnyis ka nas bka' drin 'khor med kyi rtsa ba'i bla mar gyur pa'o/_/kaH thog grub pa'i dbang po rdo rje 'chang mchog sprul kun bzang nges don dbang po nas/_klong gsal gyi rtsa rlung smin khrid 'khrul 'khor bcas pa gnang nas sbyang ba gnad du 'gro nges mdzad pa'i phyag rjes phyi nang gi drod skye ba dang /_khyad par mchin nad kyi bsnyun khams yod pa'ang lhag med du dag_/gter chen bdud 'dul gyi gter chos dang bka' 'bum pod bcu gsum gyi dbang lung yongs rdzogs/_de nang nyams len dogs gcod skor sogs zhib la gtsang dag gi bka' drin rgya chen po bstsal/_shes bya kun gzigs mchog sprul si tu rin po

The lord of  refuge (Getsé also gave to Wöntrül): all of  the

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initiations and reading transmissions for the twelve volumes of  Longsel's treasure cycles and the Gathering of the Guru's Intention ; the initiation of the Peaceful and Wrathful Deities of the Magical Net ; and the profound and vast maturing instructions of the a) general meaning of the ( Secret   Nucleus) tantra on the basis of  Rabjam Orgyen Chödrak's textbook and b) (the tantra's) words and their meanings on the basis of  the Ornament of the Lord of Secret's Intention . In particular, (Getsé gave Wöntrül) the instructions on the  Indestructible

Essence of the Clear Expanse , (including) the preliminaries and the experiential instructions on the generation and completion stages. Notably, bestowing the uncommon traditions of  cutting through and leapover instructions, (Getsé) introduced (Wöntrül) to the naked seeing of the true face of  awareness, thus making (Getsé his) root lama, whose uninterrupted kindness (flowed) from the two poles of  the profound and the vast. Choktrül Kunzang Ngedön Wangpo, Katok's Vajradhara Lord of  Siddhas, gave (Wöntrül) the ripening instructions for Longsel's channels and winds practices together with the yogic exercises, thereby giving rise to the warmth of  the outer and inner che o rgyan bsam grub nas bdud 'dul pod bcu gsum gyi dbang lung mtha' rgyas/_bka' brgyad bde gshegs 'dus pa pod bcu gnyis kyi dbang lung yongs rdzogs bcas gnang /_skyabs rje thams cad mkhyen pa rdo rje 'chang dngos rig 'dzin 'jigs med mgon po dang /_rmog sprul snying gi nor bu 'jigs bral chos dbyings rdo rje rnam pa gnyis nas lugs gnyis ka'i sgo nas brtse gzigs rgya che la/_khyad par du snga ma'i mdun nas drag po ye shes rab 'bar gyi dbang lung dang /_rjes ma'i mdun nas klong gsal gter byon dbang lung yongs rdzogs sogs gsan/

signs of  having actualized effective training. Strikingly, even

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though (Wöntrül) had the ailment of  liver disease it was purified without a trace. (Kunzang Ngedön Wangpo) also kindly bestowed on him the complete series of initiations and reading transmissions for the thirteen volumes of  Dündül Dorjé's treasures and writings, and a careful and pure teaching on eliminating doubts about the practices contained therein, and so forth. The omniscient Choktrül Situ Rinpoché Orgyen Samdrup gave (Wön trül) all the initiations and reading transmissions of the thirteen volumes of the Dündül (treasures) and the twelve volumes of  the Gathering of the Sugatas of the Eight 

Transmitted Precepts. (The second Zhingkyong) Rikdzin Jikmé Gonpo  – the lord of  refuge who is actually omniscient Vajradhara  – and the  jewel of  the essence Moktrül Jikdrel Chöying showed him great kindness by way of  the two systems (worldly and spiritual). In particular, (Wöntrül)

received

the

initiations

and

readings

transmissions of the Fierce Guru Blazing Gnosis from the former (e.g., Zhingkyong) and all of  the initiations and reading transmissions for Longsel's treasures from the latter (e.g., Moktrül). Zhechen Wöntrül spent three years at Katok studying under their full complement of  t eachers. This dossier of  studies does not contain any unexpected texts or subjects. It is very similar to Dokhyentsé's dossier, written over fifteen years later. Thus these two accounts of  studies at Katok strongly suggest that Getsé had

codified a very distinctive curriculum involving the Longsel treasures and Secret

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Nucleus exegesis. It is a very streamlined case with each of  the two major areas of  training - contemplation and doctrinal systems - largely covered by one set of  scriptures; namely, the  Indesctructible Essence of the Clear Expanse and the Secret 

 Nucleus. It bears repeating that the writings of earlier Katok lamas are nearly absent from the new program. Conclusion

This chapter concludes a two hundred year history of Katok that began when Katok was caught up in the social upheavals attending the rise of the Degé kingdom in the middle of  the seventeenth century. It was shown that during this time Katok was taken over by a religious figure who did not fit the mold of  the earlier Katok traditions, the treasure revealer Longsel Nyongpo (1625-1692). Rather than being a monk or scholar of  the Kama, this treasure revealer from Litang altered Katok's administration through placing his family members and reincarnations of his teachers in administrative con trol. His treasures eclipsed the primacy of  the earlier Kama traditions, and his family members and associated reincarnations maintained their power for generations. This changed at the end of the eighteenth century when Getsé reinvented the Katok traditio n. This chapter has shown how he transformed the monastery through reviving the Kama through the wholesale importation of  the Kama texts of  another monastery, and by codifying the Longsel treasures with new liturgical texts and meditation manuals. Furthermore Getsé made room for both in

his reformulation of  Katok. The Kama dominated tantric exegesis and had a

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strong presence in the liturgical calendar. Longsel's treasures dominated Katok's Dzokchen teachings and also had a strong presence in the liturgical calendar, perhaps even more prominent than the Kama. Getsé's many capable trülku and scholar students maintained his innovations and transmitted them to later generations of  monks and lamas at Katok. The blueprints for Katok devised by Getsé have been supplemented (by the serious study of  exoteric doctrines, for instance) but not seriously challenged.

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Conclusion

This dissertation traces a two -hundred-year period from the middle of  the seventeenth century to the first quarter of  the nineteenth century, th e conclusion of  which finds Katok monastery, and the Degé kingdom in which it was located, in radically altered form. Degé began the period as a new kingdom undergoing explosive growth, but the continuance of its military, economic, and social expansion was far from guaranteed. At the time of  its founding, the kingdom boasted few monasteries and no historical reputation for cultural greatness. Nevertheless, a string of Degé kings proved to be talented statesmen and led the kingdom to become not only a major power in eastern Tibet, but also one of  the most renowned and culturally prestigious polities in the history of  the Tibetan plateau. Exploring the details of  the growth of  the Degé royal court per se is beyond the purview of  this study. However, my primary subject- the oldest monastery in Degé and the changes it underwent during the rise and golden age of  the kingdom  – sheds important light on religious aspects of Degé and the complex interdependence of the kingdom and its monasteries Using a wealth of contemporaneous Tibetan language sources, I analyzed how Katok's lamas led a constant revision of the monastery as an institution as they found their way through controversies pertaining to institutional modalities (meritocratic

vs. hereditary and lay vs. ce libate), codification of  doctrines and rituals, and

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political engagement across the specific landscape of their unique Nyingma heritage. Through the examination of this specific case, I address broader questions about the institutionalization of  scholastic and contemplative strands of  Buddhism, relations between celibate and married religious specialists, the roles of  lamas in society, the interdependence of  transmitted and revealed religious traditions, and the socio political dimensions of competing literary and liturgical traditions. Over the course of almost two centuries Katok Monastery was transformed by direct interventions from the Degé kingdom, broader trends in the region and Nyingma sect, and the reformulations attempted by Katok lamas. To review the broad contours of  the dissertation, in the middle of  the seventeenth century the burgeoning Degé kingdom took an aggressive approach to securing its hold on the southern regions of Katok, Pelyül, and Garjé. The king confiscated the lands owned by the ruling lamas at Katok and installed at the monastery a lama who was a close chaplain of the royal family. This event was traumatic for Katok not only because of  the politically motivated interruption to its own administration and economy, but also because t he specific traits of  the lama in question  – Longsel Nyingpo  – challenged the governing paradigm of Katok monastery that was a part of its longstanding selfconception. Katok had a long historical affiliation with the Kama, monasticism, and scholasticism, and in the middle of  the seventeenth century these three components of the Katok tradition were still vital to the monastery's sense of  its own distinctive identity. The lama that the royal court of Degé imposed on the monastery embodied a

different complex of  literary, moral, social, and administrative traditions which

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important lamas of  Katok had rejected or at least kept at arm's length over the centuries. This dissertation began with an account of  treasure revealer Longsel Nyingpo's arrival at Katok, covering the circumstances of his placement at Katok, the changes he implemented at the monastery, and the accommodations he attempted to make between his treasures and Katok's association with the Kama. Subsequent chapters covered both how Katok lamas of  la ter generations embraced, reacted against, or actively tried to modify Longsel's treasures and the institutional changes he brought to the monastery. Furthermore this study also examined the impact on Katok of several trends and movements that originated outside of the monastery from broad regional trends. These include Mindrölling Monastery's systematization and revitalization of  the Kama, Situ Penchen's monastic revival campaign, the ascendency of  classical studies, and the rise of  reincarnated lamas at t he helms of  major Nyingma monasteries in Degé. The final chapter analyzed the historic solution to the crisis engendered at Katok by Longsel's abrupt intervention. This solution was developed by Getsé in the late eighteenth century, and consisted of  a rev ival of  the Kama conjoined with a revision and new codification of  Longsel's treasures, both of  which were significantly altered in the process. Rather than revising Katok’s own ancient Kama traditions, Getsé imported wholesale the new Kama rituals and tantric commentaries from Mindröling Monastery. In terms of  the treasures, Getsé thoroughly reworked several of Longsel's treasures through the composition of commentaries and liturgies,

making them suitable for use in the changed liturgical and contemplative

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environments of turn-of-the-nineteenth-century Katok. The dissertation closes with a newly dynamic Katok that was a vibrant center of learning and ritual integrating the two ancient sides of  the Nyingma tradition, Kama and Terma, but with a strong monastic and scholarly focus. In addition, the new Katok was a central religious and political institution in the Degé kingdom, and their monastic and political fortunes were inextricably bound together. Future directions

One reason for having written this dissertation about Katok, and not one of  the other key Nyingma monasteries in Degé, is that there is a wealth of illuminating literature from this time period composed by Katok lamas that is unmatched in quantity by the other monasteries. This corpus of  materia ls would enable the expansion of any one of the dissertation’s chapters into a monograph-length study of  its own. Many of  the texts used for this study came into public circulation only within the last fifteen years. For example, Dampa Deshek's  Biography was recently carved onto woodblocks several years ago and a hardcopy of  the work can be acquired only at Katok Monastery. Dündül Dorjé and Longsel Nyingpo's complete

Collected  Treasures first became available only in 1997. Getsé Mahāpa ṇḍita's Collected Works were published for the first time at the beginning of this millennium, before which his  Autobiography and most other works were unavailable for the scholarly public. Furthermore, the Thoroughly Expanded Edition of the Nyingma

Kama and the Thirteen Great Instruction Lineages of the Katok Aural Tradition

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(in one -hundred and twenty and thirteen volumes, respectively) are also newly available. Needless to say scholars are only  just beginning to study the works contained therein, and there is a wealth of  possible research direction that are open for the future. Chapter One could be further developed in a number of directions. In general, Tibetologists have not begun to take advantage of the plethora of materials from and about the Degé kingdom. This study has brought to light some of  the social forces and cultural textures of  the kingdom during its first century and a half. To be more precise, the topic of  Nyingma treasure cults and state formation in the seventeenth century has been addressed by this chapter, but has the potential to be developed into a study that is transregional and comparative. The chapter demonstrated that in the early decades of  the Degé kingdom the court patronized treasure revealers and collaborated with them in the founding and administration of local monasteries. Degé was not alone, since during these same decades the burgeoning government of  the fifth Dalai Lama was also deeply involved with treasure revealers and cults, as was Sikkim (both were founded in 1642). However, at least in the case of Degé, the royal court's involvement with actual treasure revealers was short lived. After the time of  Longsel Nyingpo and Nyima Drakpa of  Dzokchen, treasure revealers cease to be high profile figures in Degé, either at the capital or at the monasteries. Thus the case of Degé could serve as the beginning of  a comparative study that analyzed both the

roles of  the treasure cults in state formation and the circumstances surrounding

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the decline of the status accorded treasure revealers in the states, when relevant. Tsewang Norbu, the chief  protagonist of  Chapter Two, was a politically and culturally important figure whose significance has been recognized for decades. I bring to light new information and perspecti ves on his early life and later involvement with Katok monastery, which provides an initial entry into the analysis and import of his extremely revealing correspondences. Chapter Three takes a broadbased look at trends in mid-eighteenth-century Degé religion. The rise of trülkus and monasticism at the local Nyingma monasteries has not been covered elsewhere and the chapter only begins the evaluation of its implications for the development of the sect overall. Much more work needs to be done on the transfor mations of  the Nyingma sect in the eighteenth century, which began at Mindrölling Monastery in Central Tibet but came to maturity to the east in Degé. Getsé Mahāpa ṇḍita's reformulation of  Katok  – in which the treasures and Kama have equal footing, and Kama scholarship and classical learning are prominent  – represents a missing link between the tantric and often lay -based Nyingma communities and the thriving Nyingma monastic academies of  the early twentieth century with their strong traditions of exoteric scholasticism. The sketch of education at Katok in the early nineteenth century in Chapter Four is based on Getsé Mahāpaṇḍita's Autobiography, which because of its recent date of publication is only being seriously studied for the first time in this dissertation. It has yet to be taken into account by many scholars working on later Nyingma scholasticism. For instance,

Dreyfus's historical sketch of  Nyingma higher learning in the eighteenth and

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nineteenth centuries speaks of  a general "decline" until the secon d half  of  the nineteenth century and "restrictions" on Katok, whose "influence remained limited."441 This chapter strongly demonstrates that beginning in the last decade of  the eighteenth century Getsé made a systematic and effective effort to revive Kama and sūtra studies at Katok. This pushes back Dreyfus' chronology, which locates the beginning of  the renaissance of  Nyingma scholarship only in the second half  of  the nineteenth century. Furthermore, the sources consulted for this work do not evince any notion of  governmental restriction being placed on higher learning at Katok at any time. In fact, the Degé kingdom fervently supported scholarship. Getsé trained to become a mahāpaṇḍita in large measure because of the high valuation placed on such scholarly id eals among the court lamas of  Degé. Furthermore the notion of  the limited influence of  Katok is also questionable. As clearly shown in Chapter Four, Getsé attracted students from other monasteries and set up an infrastructure whereby the teaching of the Kama at Katok would persist after his passing. Some scholars of  the nonsectarian movement often represent their object of  study as bursting on the scene in the late nineteenth century, and primarily in reaction to a vaguely formulated notion of  a threat emanating from the Geluk school. What we see from Getsé is that his main concerns regarding the revival of  studies at Katok originated within his sect and in his locale of Degé. He had no farther to look than early Katok in order to find a model for Nyingma scholarship and mentions as much. 441

Dreyfus, The Sound of Two Hands Clapping, 147.

Just as the data and analysis for this study can serve as beginning point for

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the nonsectarian movement and the efflorescence of Nyingma higher learning in the early twentieth century, so too this study can work as the endpoint of the first several centuries of  Katok history. As stated in the Introduction, Katok's origins are historically important and unusual for many reasons. Moreover, many major and minor writings by lamas of  the early period are still extant, yet are larg ely unanalyzed by contemporary scholars. This study has opened up new horizons for the study of  early Katok by presenting some of  the core institutional dynamics that animate the monastery. With this historical framework as a crutch it is hoped that scholars will begin to study and translate the many treatises written by Katok lamas of the pre -Longsel period. The extant materials have much to contribute to our knowledge of  the Zur School of  exegesis, the development of  commentaries on the nine vehicles, and scholastic commentaries of treasure texts. A study of the interplay and tensions between Kama and Terma at early Katok would reveal much about the early social and literary histories of each and be a perfect complement to the present study. At the end of this study I am happy I can report that Katok Monastery thrives to this day. After the trauma and devastation of the Maoist period the monastery has been rebuilt and currently has several hundred monks and a robust commentarial school. Certainly the monastery works within challenging constraints imposed by the government but the reincarnations of  Drimé Zhingkyong, Mokdrup, Gönnyin, and others, have worked skillfully within and around the system to revive many of  the

monastery's old traditions and also to gr ound the monastery's economy in the

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generous financial networks of  global and pan-Asian Buddhism. For the time being the monastery is doing very well but many challenges remain. Katok faces the same panoply of problems that all monasteries are dealing with; especially, how to alter its training and pastoral programs so that it remains relevant and attractive to monks and laypeople who have more and more experience in the public school system and exposure to the broader world. A promising solution to this dilemma is to develop modern interpretations and expressions of  Buddhist ethics and soteriology, and disseminate them through popular culture. To date Katok has not been on the forefront of the efforts to articulate "modern" forms of Buddhism that might express innovative approaches to the predicaments of  twentieth-century ethnic Buddhists in the People's Republic of  China. Despite this, there is a groundswell of  such movements in other parts of  eastern Tibet that are slowly influencing Katok, and only time w ill tell the new forms the monastery will take as it reacts to these influences, and other forces. Of course, other creative strategies will also be required if the monastery will be able to survive and thrive for another century. There is a role for those of  us in international academia to yet play in the future of  such Buddhist and other Tibetan communities, and I look forward to being an active participant in the coming years.

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